Highly Juvenile
by the missing x
Summary: Eight teens find their paths crossing when they are all sent to the highest juvenile detention facility in America. But things are run differently here, they make you put on uniforms and run around saving people… what the hell is this?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This idea just came to me one day, and I was like... heck yeah! Let's do it! This is basically a rough first chapter. So basically the gist is: I think I have decided to tell it from the perspective from Artemis, because I haven't really sone much with her yet. So yeah... I really hope that you like it, and review on how you think the story should go and what you think will happen. Oo, and how I did. :)**

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><p>Highly Juvenile: Chapter 1<p>

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><p>The bell rang, echoing through the concrete hallways. She smiled darkly, that meant there was new meat to play with. Five of them already resided in the jail: herself, Wally, Conner, Megan, and Kaldur. But none of them were allowed to tell the others they're backstories, and if they did, well…<p>

They were monitored all day, everyday, by an inhibitor collar around they're necks, she thought it was stupid, it was supposed to suppress their powers. Who the hell had powers here? Excluding Megan, she had green skin. Note: Don't laugh at her about it, or suggest high vegetable intake, because she _will_ punch you.

She wasn't even sure if Kaldur was human because the dude had gills. _Gills._ On his neck, his hair was naturally blonde and his eyes were like silver. Literally- it scared her. _Not_ that she would let him know that. He was probably the most civil out of all of them; he was often the person that broke up a fight before it even happened. Most often herself and Wally arguing about something that had nothing to do what they were really talking about.

She could hear the footsteps of the guard coming to collect her. They seriously needed to lay off the donuts because every time she heard the guards their footsteps they sounded like they added on a dinosaur of weight.

The footsteps stopped and she could hear the beep of the card being swiped and she stat up to get ready to be manhandled. Thankfully they had never met the warden of this place, or whoever was in charge here because if the guards are the lowlifes then they might be unbearable.

Her door slid open and a guard's silhouette could be seen. "Introduce yourself to the new guests." Artemis just rolled her eyes; she had learnt quickly that the guards here were picks that used the collars against them at whim. She would know, the first month here she never listened and she had to be taken into the med-bay to be treated for burns and one of her arteries had burst from the volts running through her body.

Sauntering out of her bed she walked and stood in front of the guard, waiting for him to put handcuffs on her, normal protocol. But she wasn't sure if at all juvies hey had full handcuffs that encased the bottom part of your arm and your hands. Not to mention she felt like they were lined of something heavy.

Violently being shoved forward she snarled and kept walking, not liking the fact that the guard had his hand far too low on her back to be guarding. And why the hell was this place so big? They only needed a detention place to be home to five people, to be more, and the security measures they placed here, she never expected to go to a place like this.

They reached the main door leading to the main room, figures right? The guard swiped his ID card and the door rose, the light in the room almost blinded her. Gasping as the guard threw her forwards onto the center ring, she bared her teeth at him menacingly before standing to get up.

She stood in line beside Kaldur, noticing that everyone was here to greet the newbies- that was a first. Another first was the presence of weird adults, who were all dressed weirdly in costumes, the only person that seemed to recognise them, or one of them, was Kaldur, who looked at the blonde scaly man with guilt and worry.

So, how many meat bags were crashing their party of five? She really needed new people to be the center of her mocking, Kaldur never let it get to him, Conner had random fits of rage, Megan cried whenever Artemis teased her, and Wally was just Wally.

The small door on the opposite side of the room opened and out marched three dark haired people, all of them with the usual orange jumpsuits, inhibitor collars, and handcuffs. Although, she noticed that the first girl had tape over her mouth and the boy had his handcuffs sealed with extra enforcements.

"Welcome to the highest juvenile detention facility in America. You will not be able to escape this complex. And for those of you who have meta-human abilities, the walls are lined with things specifically designed to neutralise them." Said the man with the big 'S' on his chest. Artemis scrutinised him; he looked like a complete American supporter, values in check, personality to be likeable… by most people. Not her.

"Kids, introduce yourselves." The lady in the star spangled underwear said. Artemis nearly yelled out to her to put more clothes on, this is a Juvie, not an American bar.

They started at the other end of the line, with Megan's smiling face greeting them and introducing herself, and _boy _she could be oblivious at times.

"Conner. Been here since independence day." The lone wolf huffed out, looking up at the man in the red cape with utmost annoyance. He quickly looked away when the man looked at him, meeting his gaze. And it was like Artemis was seeing double.

"Wally, I've been here since I was thirteen." He grinned, and eyeing the man in the red costume with the lighting bolt on his chest- Wally loved the man, or the Flash as everyone calls him. No clue why he was so obsessed with a fast man running around, but he was.

Kaldur spoke up and his silver gaze pierced holes right into their souls, "My name is Kaldur'Ahm, but you may call me Kaldur." Stepping back he nudged her after she hesitated, her sister's words in her head. _It's every girl for herself._

"Artemis." There, she was happy with that. Short, snappy, mysterious and most of all, she wouldn't be getting a shock to her brain for that.

"Raquel." The first dark haired girl spoke, her brown eyes moving over them as she assed everyone. Her multiple piercings reflecting and somehow hurting their eyes even more than the room was. The next person to introduce herself was the girl with the taped up mouth, and because her mouth was taped up they introduced her for her.

Taped up mouth's name was Zatanna. Something odd for an odd person. Fitting.

The boy, who looked like he could be eleven, had the most unusual shade of blue eyes, and they seemed to be able to look into your soul while you could see nothing but a blue sea in his. "Robin." He said, quietly and hesitantly, almost as if he didn't want to tell them.

"Guards, show them to their new rooms and then we will begin our interviews shortly." The man dressed as a bat said, his voice cold and demanding. Artemis was suddenly reminded of her father, and she prayed to the heavens that this man wasn't like her father. For her sake, and everyone else's.

Before she could utter out a comment about any of the new meat bags she was being hauled away by two guards, figures, came in with one, leave with two. Because everyone is _such_ a flight risk.

Huffing back down on her bed and listening for the guards to leave outside of her door she la back down, hands behind her head and legs folded on top of one another.

Something was going to happen. That was the first time they had ever seen those people, no matter how weirdly dressed they were, they were undoubtedly in charge and important. There was a man dressed as a bat, like seriously that's going to have to disappoint the family…

There was a man that looked exactly like Conner, or did Conner look like him? Don't know, but they were having an awkward look-anywhere-but-at-each-other moment. And the big 'S' on his chest was the same one that matched Conner's t-shirt he wore under the jumpsuits.

Aqualad seemed to know that the orange scaly one was in a figure of authority, and weirdly enough the scaly one had fins on his legs. So that basically confirmed her theory that Kaldur wasn't a normal human and was part fish, or something like that.

There was one dressed in green that carried a bow and arrow. Which only made her want for her prized weapons stronger. But that ridiculous goatee was like a crime against humanity. It was just a bit over the top. Like a lot, a bit.

The man that Wally seemed to smile and bow down at moved faster than normal, like blur fast. She had looked back and saw him run around the place checking everything out. And that was just not normal. Not normal at all. Wally seemed to catch it too because the next second he's neutral and the next he seems almost excited?

The one that drew her attention the most was the green man, like Megan, with glowing red eyes, not like Megan. He had a giant 'X' across his chest, which probably made him an easy target for assassins. That was just not good, for him or anyone else taking fashion advice from him.

Others that were there just were in really skimpy clothes or looked like nuns. Honestly, she couldn't see how they could stand each other if their fashion choices were totally opposites. It was like if Megan decided she actually liked Wally's flirting.

A rap at her door signal for her to get out and go to tutoring. Which was the equivalent to school here, and how did she know it was tutoring time? Because the insensitive ticking of the clock she had replaced over five hundred times told her that it was four o'clock.

So the clock told her it was four o'clock and she rolled her eyes and got up, because if she didn't they would push the red button to send a battalion of shocks through her body via the collar on her neck.

Giving the door one hard knock, she waited for the stupid guard on the other end to open it and cuff her. Which took a lot longer than she thought it would, and the minutes ticked by and her patience was wearing out.

Raising her fist to knock the door again she almost punched the person that had opened the door in the face. Not that she would have minded, _not_ at all. It was that her surprise was obviously evident on her face, because it wasn't a guard standing there, it was the blonde man with the goatee and a Robin Hood obsession.

Before Artemis even thinks about what she should say, her mouth is moving and her voice is coming out of it. "Who the hell are you?" Inwardly beating herself up for the stupid slip, she kept her outside appearance neutral and waited for him to answer.

"Green Arrow, and you are needed in the training room." He said with a smile. She didn't know what annoyed her most at that point, the stupid goatee, or that no crap smile on his face. He acted like he was on top of the world and was living the dream. Which for her was getting out of his hellhole.

"Okay… Aren't you going to put cuffs on me?" Artemis asked, wondering if he was on drugs or something, because no one in their right mind would be smiling here, it was like the Arkham Asylum for teens.

"Why would I put cuffs on you? Oh… new protocol, no cuffs. Just follow. I am armed and yes- I know how to use a bow." He smiled; walking in a direction she had never been taken before, not even bothering to check she was following.

Flaring her nostrils she followed in obedience, telling herself that she was curious about where she was going. Curiosity killed the cat… _Lucky a cat's got nine lives…_

And once again she was having Jade related memories, no wonder Jade had an obsessions with the Cheshire Cat, it was just there and then _gone_. Just like Jade.

Well, her sister was always the better one at judging a character by it's cover, alone. Artemis her self absolutely sucked at it, her father had slapped her once for being to merciful. She was seven. Around her neighborhood you didn't mess with Lawrence Crock, or as the poor neighbors better knew him, Crusher Crock.

So she looked and tried to bring back up all those skills that had been drilled into her brain since birth. He was walking strongly, but still relaxed. Meaning… that he was relaxed? How the hell would she know? And that's normally when she gave up on reading people.

"How long have you been here, kid?" Green Arrow asked, still walking through the maze of corridors and rooms. Artemis nearly growled at him because of the misuse of the term 'kid'.

"My name is Artemis, _not_ kid."

He chuckled, "Sorry, Artemis. How long have you been here?"

Hm… how long had she been here? She was admitted after Gotham Juvenile Detention couldn't handle her. Twice. So when she was around eleven. She had just turned sixteen a few weeks ago, and she never, ever, wanted a sweet sixteen party in her cell with Megan and three other boys that used it as an excuse to muck around in her room.

"Five years."

He let out a low whistle, "That's a long time, what did you get put in here for?"

"I am sorry. Under the persons contract, I am forbidden to disclose any information surrounding my entrance into Hell, other than my name and age." She smirked, finally glad that she had a legitimate excuse for not wanting to tell him. But he seemed to get the hint, for once, and shrugged it off.

Taking a left and typing a code in with his right hand, the door slid open. Revealing a metal encased room, with equipment everywhere, and her eyes finally found her best friend, her soul mate, her one true love, her bow and arrow.

And then her suspicious rose to extreme levels. This had to be some sort of test. After five years in this impenetrable dump they would surely not just _give_ her a bow and arrow, something they knew she was most competent in.

Green Arrow chuckled, noticing the narrowing of her eyes, obviously she had trust issues. Or it was more like lack of trust in the people that 'ran' their place. "No joke kid, bow and arrow. The arrows aren't sharp if that's what you're wondering, you can't hurt anyone. They're suction."

"Nice to know you trust me." She scoffed, walking forward and gingerly reaching to pick up the bow. A thought slipped into her mind and she halted her actions. "You have a quiver on our back, do you shoot?"

"I do. But we're not here to talk about me. You want to shoot, so shoot." He said, leaving the room with a flourish. Artemis turned back to the set up right in front of her. They were tempting, very tempting. Not only was the archery range set up for her, but there were other set ups, all lining up next to each other blocked by an impenetrable wall of glass.

In the area next to hers there were gymnastics equipment set up. Uneven bars, a beam, a square mat on the floor big enough to do a tumbling routine, a ring set, a vault and a pummel. The next one over consisted of a pool- and from the looks of it, a very deep pool. The biggest area by far, was the one to her left, a whole sector for a running track, making half of the combined areas.

The weirdest by far, was the area that had random objects inside it, a car, a coin, a box of toys and a small red and black pod. There was also a led lined, at least that's what it looked like, room in the furthest corner of the complex, with dummies that looked like they were made out of concrete.

Setting her eyes back to the array of arrows and the compound bow that was hanging from the stand, she picked up the bow.

Strange.

She felt strange holding a bow again.

It was almost like the moment in the movies when the people who loved each other finally found each other again after years of separation, although there were the minor differences. For instance, she was pretty sure that a random bow she picked up would not have those feelings for her- or any bow for that matter.

Draw.

The movements came as instinct on her, like a lioness preying on a stray antelope in the grasslands of Africa. To her archery was like music. She would draw the string, and it would make a sound so minute that she was sure that she was the only one that could hear it.

Release.

The sound that accompanied the arrow flying towards it's intended target smoothed her. Her muscles relaxed, her breathing calmed- which was pretty ironic because she had been taught to do that all at the before shooting the arrow.

Thud.

The end of her song came with the satisfying thud of the arrowhead hitting the foam target. Lowering her bow down to her sides she smiles genuinely for the first time when she sees the bulls eye.

She loads her bow up more and more, releasing more and more arrows onto the targets around. Going in for the trick shots, rolling with her bow before untangling herself from the ball and aiming for three targets at the same time.

A buzzer goes and her heart falls almost immediately. It signals her time to leave the area, Green Arrow is already at the door assessing the damage done and waiting or her to follow him once again. She sets the bow down and walks with a heavy step towards him, she sets one more look into the area and notices the next one is already occupied.

Wally, who was missing the inhibitor collar around his neck. He looked like a child who had walked into a candy store for the first time, he must have felt her eyes on him because the next thing she knew he was pressed against the glass wall and waved at her.

She just shook her head, swearing in her head that he was ten meters away from that wall seconds ago. Before she could see anymore she was pushed out of the room and back into the corridor maze, really- it was just like the maze runner.

And maybe her feeling she had gotten before was right. Something big was going to happen soon, something huge and life changing. But maybe her initial intuition was wrong, something was happening for the better.

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><p><strong>AN: So... how did I do? Please leave a review so I can improve on my writing! **

**Thanks for reading and until next time!**

**-the missing x**


	2. Chapter 2

The guards had been vanishing from the site, one by one at first. Then out of nowhere, they all disappeared. Three months had passed since the first time they had set foot inside the arena, that's what they had been calling it, and the rules were randomly loosening day by day. Curfew was no more, they didn't have the constant nagging of the guards to worry about (or to care about) and they could roam freely around the place.

The only set back for Artemis was not being able to go into her archery range whenever she wanted to, because they had to go in separately with clearance from their allocated 'mentor'. Hers was Green Arrow, not surprisingly, but they weren't allowed to disclose who their mentors were to the other inmates.

Although she had a feeling about Megan, Conner and Kaldur's because, let's be honest, Megan is green- the other green guy is also green, Conner looks like 'S' man, and Kaldur has gills, the other orange scaly dude is the closest they cant get to fishy. _Not _that she was being rude; she just had a problem with being too blunt sometimes. Which often got her in trouble with Green Arrow (especially when it concerned his goatee).

Today was the one day in the week where their mentors would arrive, accompanied by other costumed people, and they would be on a rotation round to see who would go into the arena at what time. This day was, by far, the most looked forward to day in the history of this mansion of a prison. Everyone pushed aside the small fights they had during their stay and just perked up, all looking forward to the hour they would spend without limitations to what they could do.

"God Wally I swear if you don't stop I will come after you with a knife." Artemis screamed, glaring lasers at the red head that was squirting water through a water gun. No one even knew where he got the darn thing from, just that it needed to go.

"_So _scary, Artichoke. No wonder they put you in this place, you're a menace to society." Wally said with a laugh, spraying more water in her direction.

Artemis fumed, if she could her body would be heating up so high that the water would be evaporating off of her. Narrowing her eyes dangerously she glared harsher at Wally and bared her teeth out.

Robin's cackle could be heard in the background, something they had, frightfully, come accustomed to. No one else really payed attention to the small feud, mainly because stuff like that happened on a daily basis. But often one of the poor people would be called upon by either Wally or Artemis, both in some cases, to defend them.

He squirted her again and she was off. Grabbing the first thing she could get her hands on she flung it at him with surprising force. The glass plate flew, slicing through the air with ease and shattered on the wall behind where Wally was before situated.

She growled when it didn't hit her target, she wouldn't admit it but Wally was fast. Looking around with a wild look in her eyes she surveyed the area to see whether Baywatch had been smart and ran away.

He had.

"Don't you think that's taking it to the extreme, Artemis?" Zatanna asked lazily, flicking through one of the magazines that had been dumped at her door. Absent-mindedly itching the collar on her neck, not the type of accessory she wanted to wear for the rest of her life.

Artemis whipped around to face her, "are you defending him?"

The raven-haired girl gave a pointed look at her friend and shrugged, "you guys argue over the stupidest of things, it can get annoying. Honestly, I haven't been around you two as long as the others have and even I know that deep down inside you really like each other."

The blonde was flabbergasted, "I can't believe you." She grumbled, taking a seat on the green couch next to Conner, who was watching static, and crossing her arms over her chest. Before she could get out another point of defence the intercom rang out.

"Report to meeting room. Now."

Conner shook from his position on the couch and looked up at Artemis and Zatanna, "now they want us? The day's half gone already."

"Meh. If we get anytime in the arena today I'm going to take it." Zatanna said, standing to get up and travel to the meeting room. Followed quickly by the rest of the inmates in the room. Standing in line they were greeted by the silence of King Broody, only waiting for Wally to join their ranks.

They waited for what seemed like hours for Wally to come through, and then waited longer for the man standing with his bloody cape draped over him to start talking. All of them eager to get into the arena and into their own areas. Even Robin was excited, but Artemis could really tell because a few days after his arrival he had gotten a mask to cover his eyes, for reasons unknown.

Thankfully the wait wasn't that long as the rest of the mentors, plus extras, arrived. Artemis sent a small smirk to Green Arrow who was behind a red robot and in front of a blonde lady in a leotard. He returned the gesture by saluting her with two fingers.

"Each of us if part of the Justice League of America." The man dressed as a bat started, "We protect the innocent against forms of injustice and crime. Working to keep criminals off the streets."

"So you're like heroes?" Raquel asked, jutting her hip out to the side. His eyes narrowed and the room temperature felt like it fell one hundred degrees.

"Yes. You eight have been sent here on the front that it is the best and most secure Juvenile Detention facility this country has to offer. We are here to tell you today that you are wrong."

Shock.

If she hadn't been sent to this damned penitentiary then what the hell was she doing here? They stayed silent though, as the man glared again. Artemis had never seen anything like it, although her father might have known. She scoffed to herself, in his line of work he probably had run into the scary bat.

The sound of a button being pressed escaped the front room and suddenly, at the same time, their collars were unlocking and falling to the ground. Gasps were escaped from surprised mouths as the air hit their necks freely again.

Artemis rubbed her neck gingerly, hating herself for feeling nostalgic about loosing the collar. Mainly because now she could say that she didn't quit on getting the collar off of her neck, and she wasn't going to miss the shocks she had received in the past. But she felt like something was missing now.

"You need time to think." The blonde lady said, "we'll give you privacy." The heroes marched out, the batty man staying behind for a while.

"You have an hour. Talk."

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><p>"Is he serious?"<p>

"Who the hell do they think they are?"

"I've been here for years and now it's 'I'm sorry your not actually in trouble'? You know what? Screw them."

Cries of outrage rang out through the room. Pent up frustration being released into a big ball of wallowing gas that travelled around and actually hurt Artemis' ears. These people needed to learn to deal with disappointment and anger, she had all that crap bet out of her when she cried non-stop as a child.

"What do they want us for then?" Conner asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

He knew what the Light and the Cadmus board of directors wanted him for, but not these people. He was sick of people hanging him along and chopping him off at the last second, or just using him.

"Why don't we introduce ourselves again?" Megan said, being her usual perky self. "I'll start." Ignoring the eyes roll that Artemis gave her she smiled. "My name is not really Megan, that's an earth name-"

"What?"

"-my name is M'gann M'orzz from mars. And Martian Manhunter is my uncle."

Artemis blinked, a martian. An actual martian. Although now that she thought about it, it did explain the pigmentation of her skin a lot better than her vegetable intake theory. Everyone else stared at her in a new light.

Was she going to take over?

Or was she a peaceful alien like E.T.?

Wally coughed, "Okay... green cheeks. I'll go. My name is Wally West, I'm from Central City and I don't really know why I was put here."

Somehow he still smiled, nodding to himself as if he had done the best job in the world.

"What do you mean you don't know why you're here?" Kaldur asked, his silver eyes gleaming with curiosity that hadn't been seen by anyone before. Wally shrugged.

"I was thirteen when I came here because that's around the time I got hit by lightning. A-"

Her jaw dropped and she couldn't help but add something in, "_how_ in the world was lightning ever attracted to you?"

"I'm only telling my life story, Arty. You don't know me." Wally growled back, "Any who... I found some science notes earlier that year, from my uncle who worked with the Flash. I had spent all my pocket money trying to get all the ingredients that were needed for the experiment to work. I was going to gain super speed."

"And it worked?" Raquel asked, disbelief colouring her tone.

"Yep." He grinned, popping the 'p'. "Here, I'll prove it to ya."

Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, Wally was nothing but a blur. A colourful blur of orange running circles around the group, inching closer and closer to the group, moving them in to try and get away from being touched by the warming streak around them. Then, it stopped. The blur was gone and Wally was back against the wall smiling smugly at everyone.

"Okay. Point proven." Zatanna said with wide eyes.

"Who's next?" Wally asked, raising an eyebrow and running back to the group. Which was more like flashing back. "Kaldur?"

"My name is Kaldur'Ahm. I am from Atlantis. It was forbidden to venture to the surface world without any permission, two years ago I did. It was to help a drowning child. But the punishment stood all the same. I was sent to this detention centre until my king called for me back." Kaldur finished with unimaginable nobleness.

Like, Artemis had no idea how he could sound so inspirational explaining how he ended up in prison. She realised that the eyes of her friends were on her, looking at her and expecting a whirlwind tale of her life. Not wanting to be the odd one out and not share anything she aimlessly opened and closed her mouth for a while before giving up.

"I've been here since I was eleven. I thought it had to be because Gotham Juvie couldn't handle me, so I have no idea what these creeps want from me." She said, playing it off as if it were nothing but a small chip on a cup.

"You've been to Juvie in Gotham?" Robin spoke up, sounding intrigued and impressed. Artemis just smirked and nodded, holding up two fingers to tell them that it hadn't been just the one time.

"Twice?" Wally shouted, he had heard about how bad Gotham was, and couldn't find it in him to believe that Artemis was part of that sinister city- although he didn't know why.

She shrugged, "The cops got lucky."

"Okay." Zatanna said clapping her hands with a joyous glint in her eyes, "my turn. _Moor nrut ot krap._"

Artemis widen her eyes at the incantation, she had heard it somewhere before. Only it was a high-pitched male speaking and he was talking over the phone with her father.

The room around them disappeared, the colours being washed out and lightening to a dental white that blinded their eyes. She shielded her eyes with her hands, instinctively bending her knees slightly as she defended herself.

A bird was chirping.

She dropped her hands from her face slowly and blinked at the sight in front of her; green grass that stretched for miles, the cool wind that brushed by every second, flowers that were at the peak of their season, and trees that housed songbirds.

She couldn't believe it, some how they were, not a second ago, standing in a concrete fort and now they were experiencing the childhood adaptations of a park. Not that she would know, because the only time she went to the park was at midnight when she and Jade played, forced to play, stealth and target games.

She never won.

Artemis stepped back and tried to find words to describe the emotions she felt, turning around she closed her eyes again and listened to the sounds. Mostly the surprised noises of her teammates, who also were having a hard time believing that this was real.

"How?" A voice gasped, having the courage to ask the simplest of questions to the most complex thing.

"It's easy," Zatanna said, her voice snapping Artemis back into focus, "I'm a magician. My father was more well known one though, Zatara."

Artemis sensed a twinge of sadness and guilt when she said her father's name. Something must have happened that led up to this point.

"But he's in servitude now, to Doctor Fate. He's a-um- Lord of Order. So I ended up here because I tried to do harm to fate and free my dad." She sobbed, and the park faded. Robin said nothing and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Magic's not real." Wally whispered to her, having the decency to say it to only one person as to sadden the raven-haired girl already. Artemis turned on him with speed and ferociousness that had not been anticipated by any party.

"Then _how_ do you explain the park thing?" She hissed through her teeth, fighting to keep her fists by her side and her voice to a minimum. Wally gave a sideways look to Zatanna and flicked his green eyes back to Artemis.

"Ever heard of string theory? We were in a pocket dimension." He said back, gesturing with his hands to make ridiculous examples of what pocket and string meant. She looked at him with an insulted look gracing her features.

"I have the same tutor as you! I heard of them." She hissed lowly. But Wally silenced her with a hand over her mouth. She considered licking his hand but that was just… _ew._

"But do you know what they are? No? Ha. I do, and I know that magic is really just advanced science." Wally grinned, taking his hand off her face and back down to his sides.

While the two enemies were having a heated discussion the rest of the group had been listening to what Conner had to say. Although fighting over science versus magic the two of them had missed it. Now faces turning red and trying to find a decent lie about why they weren't listening.

"Do not worry about it." Kaldur said kindly, "Conner, could you repeat your story again, please?"

The blue-eyed boy nodded. "I'm a clone."

"You're a what now?" Artemis asked, leaning her head in closer, her ears not believing what they were hearing.

Wally just looked thoughtfully at him. Artemis internally rolled her eyes at him- he was probably thinking along the lines of: That is within the realms of science, I accept it.

"I was force grown in a Cadmus lab over the course of sixteen weeks. I am the clone of Superman. After I was found by some of the League I was chucked in this hell hole because my genetic father wouldn't take me." Conner snarled, she just smiled- mainly because that was the most emotion she had seen out of him. Partly because she knew what it felt like to be ignored, or lack of ignoration, by a father figure.

"At least your dad didn't beat you." She mumbled to herself.

Conner's head shot up and he looked at her with horror, shock and worry. Artemis shook her head faintly, telling him not to tell anyone. Artemis best herself up inside her head for even letting that comment reach her vocal cords.

"Rob, you haven't said anything." Wally said, zipping over to the shortest of the group and leaning an elbow on his shoulder. Robin tensed the slightest bit. She could see it; his hands were curled into fists.

"I don't have to tell you anything." He whispered, "I'm… I'm not ready for that. Not yet."

Damn it. Artemis should have gone with that. Trust the smallest to act the most innocent, he could pretend all he wanted but he was the only one that came in with the extra straps around his cuffs.

"Then tell us why you're here." She said, meeting his cool gaze with her own challenging eyes.

Robin sighed and reluctantly said, "I got caught by Batman when I was trying to steal from a house in Gotham."

If Artemis could whistle, she would.

From his personality and age she would never have guessed that he was a thief. He was always so cheerful and mischievous; it was hard to imagine him stealing from a house.

"Who's Batman?" Raquel asked. It wasn't a stupid question- but she had a feeling it was the brood mai-ster, with the cape and pointy ears. It would explain a lot, especially the bat signal on the chest.

"The one dressed as a bat." Robin said, raising an eyebrow that they couldn't see.

"Right." Wally said, "That dude is creepy. It's like he didn't get a date to the prom and prowls around his mother's basement." Everyone laughed but Robin. Who oddly frowned and bit his lip.

"Guess I'm the last one to go." Raquel said with a smile, patting her thighs. "I'm Raquel Ervin and I'm here because I got caught stealing and using alien tech from my neighbor. Brought me here because I couldn't be trusted with the information I had gathered."

The group fell into silence. The backstories had been said, the introductions already done and there really was nothing to say between them. Not anything more they could think of that would sound okay to say out loud.

"What can you do?" Wally asked, his question directed to Megan. Who looked a bit shy and conservative now that everyone knew why her skin was green. But she smiled and closed her eyes for a second. Nothing happened.

_"Sorry if this scares you Artemis."_

Artemis gasped, attracting the stares of everyone but the closed eyed martian. She had just heard Megan's voice inside her head- and it wasn't a hallucination.

One second was all it took for Megan to shift, starting from her feet, which no one noticed the change was really unnerving. Her skin turned to the same shade as Artemis', her face shifted- morphing into a face that Artemis stared into everyday. Like looking at a mirror. Megan's hair was longer, blonde, tied up, her face was like a replica of Artemis', because it was, and it creeped her out.

"That is so cool." Zatanna said, looking from Artemis to the other without shame.

Thankfully Megan could feel Artemis' uncomfortableness and shifted back to her normal form. Sending a sorry look to Artemis she settled back into her chosen skin comfortably.

"You think the hour's up?" Raquel said, sounding bored. Artemis tossed her a weird look; she didn't want the hour to be up. It just meant that she had to face people that knew her past. Although she had a sneaking suspicion that Robin knew a lot more than he was letting on.

"It'd been past an hour twenty minutes ago." Robin said, crossing his arms and smirking. "They're waiting outside the room for us to call them in. Trying to see if we run away or not."

"You didn't tell us because?"

"Didn't think you would want the hour to be up." He shrugged, "either way were going to the arena."

Artemis frowned, "how do you know?"

Dick just looked at her with a mysterious grin on his face. She didn't miss the smug look on Wally's face behind him either. She glowered at him and turned back to face the middle of their circle.

The door opened, the League filed in. Batman was at the front, flanked by Superman and the star panties lady. Artemis thought it was a scene out of an action film, minus the fog and Eye of the Tiger blasting in the background.

"Go with your mentors. We're going into the arena." Batman said in his monotonous voice.

Green Arrow made his way to her and nodded, she nodded back: a simple exchange of pleasantries between mentor and protégée.

They walked forward side by side, following Wally and a man dressed in a bodysuit, and being followed by Robin and Batman- who looked oddly comfortable for someone who was taken in by the big bad bat.

Then again, she was completely comfortable with a blonde man wielding a bow.

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><p><strong>AN: Here is the really, really, really, REALLY late chapter 2. I am so sorry. No excuses. I hate myself right now. Any way... I hope you guys liked this chapter because I really tried really hard for this. Sorry again and I hope you liked.**

**If you noticed a line from the chapter that sounded familiar, **_"That dude is creepy. It's like he didn't get a date to the prom and prowls around his mother's basement." _**Tell me where it's from :)**

**MAILBOX:**

C: Hahaha... They are fourteen in this fic :)

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Featherheart: That means a hell of a lot to me, thank you so much! And on the Robin note, it'll be a bit more complicated than that... but I don't want to give away spoilers.

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**Thank you all again, and please, please leave a review because it give me something to work towards and strive for something better than bad... so yeah, please review. But if you don't, thanks for reading, hope you like it all that jazz. **

**Until next time,**

**-The Missing X**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Just a note, this chapter is shorter than others because it's a filler chapter- I'm halfway through the next chapter, and that will be one to look forward to. PLUS I'm asking you because I am still on the edge about this idea, but I might be putting in chapter breaks between some chapters about the team's backstories and their perspective. **

**Let me know what you think and read on...**

* * *

><p>Artemis groaned, heaving herself up from the mats.<p>

Her muscles aching, her side bruised, seriously- what the hell is this guy made of? Or lack of, it was like he was nothing but the wind, a really, really hard hitting wind. She glared at her opponent, sizing him up again. They had given them nothing to defend themselves with but themselves.

Which sucked like hell.

"Good." Black Canary's voice came through. "Next pair."

Artemis walked back to the edge of the ring and sat herself down next to Megan, who was meditating. She took a wayward glance to her opponent, Robin, only to find him laughing and joking with the hothead of a speedster (Which only really made her self-loathing worse).

Megan flashed back into reality, "You did really well. I don't think I've ever seen anyone fight so well."

Artemis smiled and her friend crookedly, taking a swig out of her water bottle, and grimaced as the muscles in her neck screamed at her. "If I fight as well as you think I fight I wouldn't have lost."

_I lost to a kid that is basically a whole head shorter than me, and looks like a twig- a very quite twig._

They had been introduced to all the people that they needed to know: Black Canary (trainer) and Red Tornado (Den Mother). Now, courtesy of the glare from Batman, they were spending over half of their days training, whether it was with their mentors or with the team.

She watched the fight with earnest, Kaldur and Conner were both giving sharp and hard hits, Conner more so, and the sweat forming on their brows were becoming evident. She liked watching them- not _them_, but watching her friends train.

There was always something she was learning, Kaldur was like a fish on legs, Conner was a copy, Megan was a space chick, Robin was some freaky ninja, Wally was a hyperactive nerd, Raquel was a grit-and-grime gal with an alien belt, and Zatanna was the girl who could speak backwards without a second thought.

Though, she knew there was something about Robin that unsettled her, probably his tendencies to disappear from the cave at night and appear just before training and cackle the living daylights out of them. The way he fought, the way he moved so easily around every obstacle, there was something familiar about it- yet so foreign.

It also didn't help that she had a feeling he knew about her family, and their jobs within Gotham and the criminal underworld. He had been dropping hints since they had found out about everyone's true identities; it also didn't help the obvious and annoying Alice in Wonderland references.

"- I tried, didn't work."

Huh?

Megan had apparently been talking to her about something while she had been having her little monologue in her head. Maybe she really did need the therapy sessions with Black Canary. She swiveled her focus on the pair fighting again, Conner looked like he was getting the upper hand. With a final throw, she winced at the force, Kaldur was down and thankfully not that hurt.

"Great work guys." Black Canary applauded, "after this spar you can hit the showers, you've all deserved more than the old ten minutes in there."

Artemis sighed and lent her head back on the cement wall groaning.

"You okay, Artemis?" Megan asked, a worried look plastered on her face. Artemis just threw a careless smile and nodded. The green girl smiled back with tiredness and turned to Rocket and Zatanna, who had since joined them.

"So, Zatanna." Megan smiled, "What will you be doing next week? I mean, we're having a whole week out of the cave and with our mentors, and you don't really have one."

Zatanna looked away for the briefest second, her eyes landing on the floor before coming back upwards and plastering a smile on her features. "Don't worry about me, Megan. Red Tornado wants to learn more about the culture on Earth."

"That's cool, you should watch some television. We used to get a broadcast sent here to mars, I would watch it _all_ the time. Not all the time of course, just my favourite shows. Although there was one I didn't like that much but kept watching it because the one guy looked really cute. Oh… sorry. Hello Megan."

They laughed. Something all of them had become accustomed to, yet not completely used to, was Megan's rambles that ended in a sheepish sorry and a knock to the head, _'Hello Megan'_.

It was one of the many quirks that made her who she was; the most obvious was being green. But they loved her no less for it. In fact, she was pretty sure all of them had quirks. Not sayings that were theirs, but something that defined them in personality.

"Zatanna." Artemis smiled, drawing out the middle syllable and batting her eyes slightly. Zatanna just looked at Artemis weirdly and nodded. "I was wondering, because you and Robin seem to really like each other-"

"We do not!"

"-if he's told you anything about where he was before here?"

The magician looked at her weirdly, "why would you want to know about his past? And no, we don't talk about that stuff."

Artemis deflated dejectedly. She thought for sure that if anyone, but Wallace, knew about the bird's past it would Zatanna. She had picked things up, he didn't want to tell anyone about it, but he did. It screwed with her mind, he had come so close to telling them in the past few days- she could see it on his face, but then he would pull back and close off again.

"Alright, what do you talk about then?" Raquel smiled, nudging the fourteen year old on the shoulder. Zatanna must have gotten the meaning because she was beet red, or what they spent in their spare time doing wasn't that innocent. (She highly doubted it)

"I don't see why we always have to talk about me and Robin, what about Artemis and Wally?" She shot back, a smirk reappearing on her lips triumphantly.

Artemis scoffed and laughed, a little too hard, "_me_ and _Wally_? You are hilarious. All of you, really. Har har. Har."

The girls exchanged a knowing look before turning their attention back to Artemis, who was starting to become uncomfortable under their 'future telling' like looks. She would have to consider being friends with Wally before she thought of him that way- they didn't even work well together as a team.

"Well on that note I think I am going to take a shower. Seriously I stink, you guys stink, we _all_ stink." Raquel said, smiling and poking her tongue out and sauntering away. The door shut behind her with a loud whoosh, attracting the attention of the male half of the team.

"Where's Rocket gone?" Wally asked, his mouth full with food that Artemis could not identify anymore. It was that disgusting. Megan gave him a weird look.

"Who's Rocket?"

The speedster finished his food before sending a lopsided smile to the green martian, "haven't you seen her and that cool belt thing, Megalicious? She glows and _flies_… like a rocket."

"Does she know you call her Rocket? Or are you secretly hoping it would catch on like Gretchen Wieners thought fetch would catch on." Zatanna laughed, earning a laugh from Artemis- who was inwardly appreciating Zatanna's growing accustom to directing snarky comments to Wally.

"What?"

The magician rolled her eyes and waved her hand at him, "Mean Girls reference, you probably wouldn't get it- you know, spending the last few years trapped in this hunk of a dump."

"Sounds dumb. Anyway, Black Canary says our mentors are stopping by after dinner for a surprise. Personally I think it's a dessert buffet for our very hard work." Wally grinned, but dropped it for a scowl when Artemis slapped him on the head.

"We're not getting a dessert buffet. They want us in shape, not running around with frosting on our faces." She snarled before lightening up, "Besides, you eat enough as it is. No one has no idea if you have a stomach or not."

"I've got a fast metabolism, comes with the speed, blondie." He sang, "It's not like you can run as fast as I can without burning truckloads of energy, and they serve such good food here."

"I don't think anyone could do what you do." Artemis smiled evilly.

Wally was taken aback but smiled nevertheless, "why thank you. It seems you have finally come to your senses and realised all of the talent and charm I possess."

"Not many people can run and fall flat on their faces at super human speed, really Wally. Talent."

He narrowed his eyes at the blonde as she smirked victoriously back at him. While the rest of the group chuckled, or in a special case, laughed out loud with tears streaming from their eyes.

"Think we're getting something tonight?" Conner asked suddenly, his eyes piercing through everyone. "I can hear them talking about something."

"BC did say that we had to come back here after we hit the showers." Robin said.

"That reminds me." Zatanna smiled, "I need a shower, and so do all of you, because in the words of Raquel: We all stink."

The magician waved a final goodbye and headed out the door that Raquel had disappeared through earlier. Deciding on the spot to join them in the quest of cleanness Artemis uttered a goodbye and left with Megan who had decided to leave as well.

* * *

><p>"Kid, I hope you're excited for this."<p>

Artemis just looked at Green Arrow weirdly and shrugged. "I don't know what to be excited about. There's no point in getting excited."

The emerald archer just chuckled, "you have much to learn, my young padawon."

"Did you just Yoda me?" Artemis smiled, throwing an eyebrow up.

"I'm surprised you get the reference, it didn't look like they gave you much outside culture."

Artemis stayed silent. She only knew about it because Wally used to go on about it when he first arrived here. A typical thirteen year old science dork with flaming red hair and an unhealthy ego. He used to pretend to be able to use the force on them all the time, until he realised that he was fourteen and too old to be playing Star Wars with others that simply didn't want to play with him.

Maybe that's what set her up to hating him at first. The fact that he got to live part of his teenage years outside of a detention facility, and have the exposure that she wouldn't have. Because trust her, even if she was out of the hell hole she called home, she wouldn't be allowed to watch any of that stuff. Simply because daddy dearest wouldn't allow her.

"Wally used to fangirl about it before he realised that no one listened." She mumbled half-heartedly, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers.

Green Arrow just hummed and smiled to himself. They waited in silence. Artemis observed the other sets of people in the room; Megan and her uncle, Robin and Batman, and Kaldur and 'his king'.

Megan and her uncle always seemed at peace with each other, and everyone around them. Although she did find it weird and creepy when they started floating and glow-glow eye. It was a whole new level that she had not been prepared for, she didn't think she could ever get totally used to it.

Robin and Batman were... special. That was all she was going to make on that matter.

Kaldur, she could see it so clearly, had a great respect for his king. He followed his every whim, she thought blindly, but she could see that his king (Aquaman) had a great respect for Kaldur. So apparently respect was a two way street.

She and Green Arrow, who had not disclosed who he was under the mask and hood, had an interesting dynamic. Not as clean as what the newly dubbed Dynamic Duo, but clean enough to pass for people who know each other.

Which, provided, was brilliant because they had been shoved together for only a short time and had bonded over their mutual love for the great sport that was archery. She had spent the first week relearning basics and technicalities of archery, the second week as getting back into shape and this week was working with the mentor.

"Everyone's here."

She eyes darted across the room to where the Flash was standing, with Wally, who were (unsurprisingly) the last ones to arrive. Artemis internally groaned and faced the front again, her back turned to the speedster.

"Collect your gear." Batman said, before leaving the room with a cartwheeling Robin behind him, staying in the shadow of the great cape.

Artemis looked at the retreating figures with quite disbelief. It was so not far how they could disappear without anyone questioning their objectives. Green Arrow nudged her and she walked with him. Down a hallway, turn a left, make a right, go through endless amount of doors to a point where it was ridiculous, and then finally finding their way in front of yet another door.

"This is?" She asked, not hiding her slight annoyance and confusion.

"This," he smiled, pointing to the door, "happens to be your new locker and gear room."

Sliding the door open he grinned off the side and stepped away for her to see the- _her_- gear room in all it's glory.

Artemis' mouth went slack. She had never seen something, anything, like this. Her uniform- one that she designed, was hanging on the side, laid over an exact scale model of herself. A row of green compound bows strung up, all looking to be very new, and very expensive. A compartment dedicated to arrows and different arrow heads; exploding ones, sonic screamers, sharp, technology based ones.

It was like she had been let into heaven, and she didn't want to leave.

"Is this all for me?" She asked. If she cared she would have cringed about how childish she sounded. "All of it? Seriously? This isn't some sick joke?"

"It's all for you, kid. You've earned it. Put the uniform on, we're having a team bonding thing outside soon. And don't forget to grab a bow and a few arrows."

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><p><strong>AN: And I suck. Sorry guys for such a long wait for an update and thank you for all the reviews I have received (16 OMG). I really have no good excuse for such a late update, and I am once again sorry.**

**For everyone who said that the quote was from Justice League War, you are correct! CONGRATS YOU HAVE WON A FREE CYBER HUG. And that is why I'm not a creative designer. **

**On a slightly lighter note, I have spent the last week watching Arrow, Flash, and Gotham online for kicks and I have to say, it's pretty damn amazing. I didn't think I could love television more! For everyone still hoping for a season 3 of Young Justice I have just read, although it's kind of old now, that they're bringing it back! But wait... on Teen Titans Go. And that's where I lost the plot. Seriously? I am pretty miffed off about that, but anything is better than nothing. **

**So far I have gotten a really good response for this story and I thank you all that do review, and everyone that follows and favourites. You guys really rock, and from a person who basically thrives of people's responses that is absolutely awesome and I cannot thank you enough. **

**For this story, and this is IMPORTANT, I want to try and get ideas from the readers and try a different approach to writing this. So if you have an idea or if you want something to happen flick me a PM and I will try my darndest to put it in the story, whether it be sooner or later.**

**PLUS READ FIRST AUTHOR'S NOTE.**

**If you haven't noticed from word vomit above ^ I ramble. A lot. So if you happen to read this author's note, thank you. Haha, I used to just skip them out but I've found they become a great relaxed section of the chapter where everything just settles into place and I'm pretty sure this is just another ramble so... stop. **

**MAILBOX:**

Lorella Smith: Thank you very much for your review, and I have every intention of continuing.

andreri: Thanks! Things will probably start off slow and then get up there very quickly, but yeah in future badass Robin will be making an appearance.

broodingbat: Really? That's great to know that if I write a joke it won't be really, really bad like in real life. Then it gets awkward because no one laughed.

Meridianpony: Thank you for our awesome comment!

Veritas1995: It's the Robin in the first season, so Dick Grayson. Because hell, he is my favourite Robin.

JewelStruck: Hit the nail on the head!

Terri Jones: Awe thank you.

The Alpha Knight: I have an idea for inputs here and there about people's backstories, but most of it will be in Artemis' perspective, so anything that she doesn't see- you don't see. But I assure you, it's all there.

C: Ahahaha! That cracked me up!

21 is awesome: Thank you so much! I know, most of my stories you seem to read and I am so grateful for that, so thank you xx

amyanime4: Yep! Love that movie!

xXLostParadoxXx: Thank you, and I am really sorry about the wait...

Featherheart: Thank you so much, that means a lolly lot to me!

The Shadow Keeper: Of course I'm going to keep going, I aim to please.

The Damned Goddess: You are 100% correct :)

God-Rocks: Thank you so much!


	4. Chapter 4

If she had a dollar for every time she was in an impossible situation that normally ended up with her in tears or silently bottling up her frustrations she would be halfway to being set for the rest of her life, plus afterlives- if they exist.

Right now, she was probably adding on ten thousand dollars.

Everything had gone right for them. The mission went well, they actually got the intel without blowing the whole facility to bits and pieces. They had, unfortunately, lost the bioship- Megan had been knocked out doing a stupid thing, and when they found the bioship things just went weirdly for them.

"Don't tell me what to do!" She scream-whispered from the top of her lungs, her tongue uncharacteristically poking out in concentration.

"Then stop doing it wrong, Artemis. This is life or death, I don't think you understand how high the stakes are." Wally said, full seriousness showing through his cowl.

God, sometimes she really hated the insufferable know it all that was Wally West, or the newly dubbed Kid Flash. He was always in her face about the stupidest things, and finally she finds something that wasn't so stupid and he's annoying her about it too.

"I'm not doing anything wrong. If you keep hissing in my ear we're going to loose them, and we _can't _loose our team." She says, her body straightening up at the silent announcement of the next big plan. Her voice cringe-worthingly thick.

Kid Flash just stays quiet beside her, both of them watching the target on the move. Her ready and poised to make an attack.

"Just a little further." He whispered. Artemis narrowed her eyes and tried to block the counting down that was coming from her left.

"Just a little _further_." He whispered again, with more strain and desperation.

She lowered her stance, glaring at him. He just stayed there with his mouth open and his eyes betraying every emotion he was feeling, dumb ass. She bared her teeth and smacked him on the head for annoying her. They had been working for the last hour at this; something had gone wrong during the mission that left their team stranded and in bad danger. Not that there is such a thing as good danger.

"Why the hell did you drop it, we don't have a clear shot to get them back. God, they are going to kill us." He said, his voice going hilariously high. You know- if it wasn't a life or death thing and she hadn't just screwed it up to smack him on the head.

"If you hadn't pissed me off so much we might not be in this position." She growled back.

"And what position would that be?" He smirked darkly back, earning another slap on the head.

"Don't _joke_." She hissed, "Our team is trapped and fighting for their lives, you don't get to joke."

"You're the one who chickened down from taking the shot!" He said, running a hand through his Lorax like hair. "We need another game plan."

"We need another life. The one's we've lost have already cost us too much." She whispered sadly, god- why the hell was this so hard?

"Just follow the next target and we'll wing it. Go by the wind, nomads of the world." He said, trying to do Kaldur's inspirational thing. Which didn't work for him, especially considering their predicament.

"That's not going to help. We've got a bunch of people with a bunch of upgraded AK-47's, that will _not_ hesitate to take our team down, and the only way we can get them back alive is if we shoot down their men one by one. Which will alert every single one of them. This is no time to be a flipping nomad." She ranted, her chest heaving from her small speech, partly out of annoyance and part out of tiredness.

"We get one chance then." He said heavily, looking into her eyes with intenseness that she had never noticed before. Something that maybe showed a much more serious and down to earth guy than the Wally she knew. "Take the shot."

She breathed out shakily and aimed, steadying her hand to get the perfect shot. She fired. It hit.

But the guard screamed. Her hoped plummeted through the ground, "_No_." She whispered, distraught.

Wally, on the other hand, was far more vocal about his and outright screamed. "NO! No, no, no, no, no, no, _no._" The last came out as a strangled plea. They failed.

The beeping and fall of the crater proved that much.

"It's over. He won. I don't believe it." She whispered.

"You little son of a gun!" Wally roared, his face turning red at the cackle of a familiar person. "You rigged it, our team _died _because of _you_, and your laughing? I thought we were friends?"

Robin came out with a smirk on his face, shadows surrounding him with calmness and familiarity. His has raised in a sign of surrender. "You _made _it too easy. Besides, I've got a reputation to uphold, I'm the boss around here, not you two. Even if you did team up and got beaten by a 'kid'."

"You did it all to uphold your reputation? That's sick." He spat.

"Awe come on, Wally. Live a little, it's a just game. Get over it." Robin smiled widely.

"It's a just a game? _Just_ a game? Have you learnt _nothing_ the three months you've been here? Honestly, I thought I had a greater influence on you." Wally gasped and shook his head.

"My record is unbeaten, and there was no way I was going to let you two mess with it." He smirked again.

Artemis could feel the pent up frustration bubbling from the tips of her toes. Like a volcano, she swore one day she would burst, and that bird better hope he was far from it. Far-away-far from it.

"I can't believe you guys actually thought you'd win that game against Robin, he is the reigning champion of Infiltrator." Raquel smiled; she had changed out of her Rocket uniform into comfortable and sensible sleepwear.

"We had the odds stacked against him, he rigged the thing! That's cheating!" Wally shouted, childishly hanging onto the one fact in hopes it would become a religion or something.

"It's not direct cheating though," Robin smiled, "Besides, you both needed to work together. It was going well until the game got rigged, told ya' that they'd work okay together, Conner."

Conner, who had been sat in the single chair facing the television, finally cracked and smiled in amusement. Artemis noted down that it was probably one of the very few smiles they would get from the teen- unless they counted the ones when he was around Megan, which they didn't.

"I can't believe you rigged it, I thought you had morals." Artemis poked at him, and she swore for half a second his face contorted into something resembling rage, or hatred. But it didn't stay long enough for her to call him out on it, or for her to know it wasn't something of her imagination.

"Meh, your just not whelmed." Robin shook off, smiling dazzling teeth at the people in the room.

"I can't believe we lost to Robin. There go my gaming privileges." Wally muttered sadly.

Artemis rolled her eyes, remembering the bet the two friends had going. If Wally could surpass Robin and take the number one spot in Infiltrator, Robin would be his servant for a week. But if he failed to do so he would give his gaming hours to Robin for a month. The twist, Wally had to play with her.

Her side of the deal, Robin would tell her everything she wanted to know, with limits, or she would tell him what he wanted to know. Guess some things never change, like the people that Gotham poisons still want intel to survive.

And like many people in Gotham she fell victim to the people that played everyone else.

* * *

><p>"Why do I get the feeling you know more about me than someone who just met me?" She asked, her voice surprisingly taking a working deathly tone- another big first for her. Artemis remained stoic as Robin tipped his head to the side, a light smile on his face- one that didn't reach his eyes.<p>

He opened his mouth and closed it again, laughing at himself and shaking his head. An action that only made her nerves go crazy with fear, or something else, meh she wasn't particularly in a rush to find out what.

"Didn't I win the bet?" He finally said, brushing the hair out of his face. "If the prize was for you to interrogate me, I'm sorry but you didn't win, I did."

Artemis just glared at the smirking Robin, the only reason she entered the bet was because just last week she came out of the shower with green hair and purple teeth, all because Robin wanted to see if it would work to prank Wally later.

She had spent the night with no sleep and hunting down a cackling bird, in the morning he had returned with a smile on his face and asked her how she was doing. And that's when she realized that he had spent another night in Gotham with Batman, and her night spent trying to look in every shadow for him was absolutely pointless.

"Fine." She sighed, "what do you want to know?"

He looked around for a second before deciding that no one was going to overhear them. "Batman and I have been following some Shadows that have been in Gotham. Nothing's happened yet, but-"

"You figure something might." She finished.

So he knew.

"Exactly." Robin said in full seriousness.

"Hang on." She stopped him, "If you were working as a street thief in Gotham, and we've only started working as a team for two months now, _and_ we've only been on three missions, why do I get the feeling you've had a run in with the Shadows?"

"I wasn't just a street thief." He smiled sadly, "But if you want to know that story you'd have to beat me at something. I want to know where the last place your dad stashed stuff."

Artemis frowned, she wasn't even supposed to tell her mum about where her dad kept Sportsmaster gear around the city, or if there were places, what would give Robin the right to know them? Oh… Right. She wasn't with her dad anymore, there are no threats looming over her head and no promise to gut her alive.

"He had one in Gotham." She sad with a frown, "but by the time I found out about it he had shut shop and moved it. I don't know if he's got another one or more than one, but I know that he was talking about making a bigger one, he was um- thinking about having one out of Gotham. Three locations where it might be; Central City, Gotham and Coast City."

"Why those cities?" He asked, she could basically feel the suspicion flowing off him. Honestly, they could give her a break about this stuff.

"Central because it's basically in the middle of the city, Gotham because it's Gotham, and I think he was looking into Coast because if he needed to get out of the country really fast he could grab all his gear and take it with him. "

Robin nodded, "How about your sister? Know anything about her?"

Artemis froze, how the hell did he know about her sister? They didn't even have the same last names, because Jade had refused to live with being a Crock. Artemis decided to keep her given last name because she looked a bit more like her father and she did her mother and it was easier to say than Nguyen.

"How do you know about my sister?" She asked shakily.

But Robin dismissed it, "I'm a hacker, Artemis, and a good one. I know a lot of things about everyone on the team. Sorry for bringing this up, but Batman's grumbling about knowing nothing and he's not a fun person when he's grumpy."

"He's never a fun person."

"My _point _is, that we need as much intel as we can get. Sorry." He sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Artemis could see that it was an internal battle, he may be good at hiding his emotions but maybe he wasn't as in control as he thought.

"I don't know what happened to my sister. If you've done your research-"

"I have."

"-well, then you know that she left when I was nine. She never came back."

Robin faltered for a moment before stiffly smiling, "Sorry then… thanks, for the intel. I know it was hard for you to tell me this stuff, especially since you hardly know me."

"Why is that?" She asked, "I mean why don't you tell us how you got here or what you were before?"

The younger looked at her for a moment, "One day, I'll tell you guys everything. But after that everything changes... and who said I was someone before I came here?"

With that eerie sentence he left with his cape billowing behind him. She stood there for a moment and trained her eyes on the spot that he had disappeared out the door.

_'One day, I'll tell you guys everything. But after that everything changes…'_

Why did that sentence scream 'Story of my Life'?

But her conversation, no matter how mission-y it was, with Robin had opened her eyes to the possibility of facing her family again, something that had haunted her since she arrived. It was like she was stuck between a rock and a hard place, she never got the meaning of that but it seemed appropriate now, she hated… her dad, and she couldn't really imagining facing her mum again or reuniting with her sister, but their was a small part of her that wanted to show them how strong she'd become, how she had grown without them, and how she had blossomed into who she was today.

But would they be proud, or remorseful, or _different _about it? Or would they outright stated that she was the devil-child and Jade was always the prodigy, _always_?

Was she even worthy of the Crock family name?

Or was it just another invisible scar that never healed?

Was she someone that people were going to look up to?

Or that people would fear?

Was she someone that could deal with the real world like a boss?

Or was she someone that would run and die the first chance she got?

For the rest of the day she spent hours and hours mulling those questions over, but she still hadn't found an answer to any of them. And she never thought she would.

* * *

><p>Star City.<p>

It really did deserve the name. Whenever she was on patrol here she felt more at peace, she felt like nothing could touch her- she felt like an untouchable star.

But they hadn't gone on patrol in Star City tonight, they had gone to Gotham.

The city that she had called a home for nine years, and a city that she had felt nostalgic about for five, and a city that felt like she was in the Hunger Games.

They hadn't done anything but look around the city looking for zeta tubes. Green Arrow had grumbled about Batman permitting him into his city and if he ever tried to go to Star then he would kick him out at the first glance.

"What are we doing here?" She asked, for what felt like the hundred-thousandth time.

The older archer just smiled, "Have you found the tube yet?"

"Nope." She said, popping the 'p', "I've been searching the alley for ten minutes now, there's like nothing here."

"Are you sure, because," he shrugged, "and here's a thought, I wouldn't lead you to a place with no tube to search for a tube."

Artemis just narrowed her eyes at her, but couldn't help the grin that made its way to her features. Sometimes he just knew how to make her laugh, even when she wanted to keep a straight face and not smiling out and looking like a total goof in the middle of a hostile take down. _Not_ that she was being hostile, or taking down people harshly, it was just… yeah…

"Why are we in Gotham? It's not like I need to know where the tubes are because I don't stay here." She groaned, her head falling back against the brick wall she was leaning on.

"Because we're here on official family business." He smiled softly.

Artemis' mind whirred, her thoughts processing at about one thought per hour and she couldn't do anything but blink. "What?"

"Let's play a game." He smiled widely, before tapping her on the shoulder, "You're it."

Then he ran out of the alley, climbing up the fire escape of the building and disappearing through a window. Did he really just go through some poor stranger's window? Imagine the reaction when the owner wakes up to a man with a blonde goatee with a green hood on and a bow in hand with a fully stocked quiver on his back.

Now it was something she couldn't miss.

She chuckled before following the exact path he had taken. Her hand gripping the fire escape as she jumped from point A to B, and from point C to D, almost painfully as the rust tried to break into her skin.

When she hurled herself through the window and standing up from her roll she froze at the familiarity of the room, and when she opened her eyes it took all her willpower to not stumble back and flee like the wind, only to be heard of in tales of old.

This was her room.

Everything was the same as when she first left and when they had first set it up. The wallpaper on the wall was starting to fray and the lone poster on the wall still held homage for her favourite childhood story. The beds were still made, and dust had begun to settle over everything, and her teddy was still lying on her pillows, as it had been for the last years waiting for her to return.

Rubbing her hands over her eyes and leaving them there for a second she wondered if this was all a dream and she would wake up depressed as ever. But when she removed her hands she knew that this was real, as real as her hair (Which, despite what Wally thought, was her real hair).

"Welcome back home, kiddo." Green Arrow said from the open doorway.

She flashed and faced the mentor with a mix of emotions, anger, sadness, happiness, joy, annoyance, and thankfulness. "You know." She whispered.

"I'm not your blind mentor, Artemis. I know almost all of your history, but that won't stop me from making sure that you can be the best person that you can be, so don't expect me to leave you- _ever._"

"Thank you." Artemis whispered, because apparently whispering was the highest volume her voice could handle with shock in her system. "Um-" she cleared her throat. "Do you mind if I stay here tonight? I promise I won't do anything, I just…"

"I get it. Do you think I would have brought you here and expected to you leave straight away? I'll be back in the morning, if you need anything just zeta to the cave." He smiled, before leaving again.

She breathed in shakily before pulling off her cowl and sinking onto her bed, feeling the mattress sink under her weight and the softness of the thin sheets. It had been nearly six years since she had been home, one where she was admitted into Gotham Juvenile Detention Center and then the next five after she had been transferred to what she thought was Happy Harbor Juvenile Detention Center for the Troubled.

_… we have to stick together… you and dad and me… Jade… Haven't you learned? In this family it's every girl for _herself_… Baby Girl… Artemis… I'll disappear, like the Cheshire Cat…_

For many reasons she could list now she hated this place. But for some unknown reason she had missed it. For some stupid, twisted, buried-deep, ugly, dumb reason, she missed this. And she never actually realized how much value this place held until now, when she had spent nearly half her life serving junior time and after she had started to gain back some freedom. Maybe, this was calling her back to Gotham, which would really be nice- but she had no one to stay with, no one to hang around, and no one to share her life with. She was alone.

"Artemis?"

Artemis hadn't expected company in her place. She grabbed her bow and nocked an arrow, swirling in a matrix of movements to aim at the shadow in the doorway, a steel glint reflected from the moonlight.

"Step into the light, _now_."

A creak, then a roll. The figure walked- or wheeled themselves forwards. Artemis kept a trained eye and aim on her and narrowed her eyes further, ready to let her fingers free of the string that lay nested in the crevices of them.

As the light splayed over the scene in front of her she, once again, found herself wanting to fall back and leave the apartment, gone. But she forced herself to only take a few steps back and lowered her bow immediately.

Letting out a shaky breath, "Mum?"

* * *

><p>"You think this will cause trouble?"<p>

He hummed and opened his eyes, "You see this as… a bump in the road, as you might say. But to me, this should act as a perfect distraction to the people that are needed out of the picture for stage one to be implemented. Send the call out."

"Of course."

"One day soon, they will finally see… the Light."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Guys! It's been like a week... and a bit since my last update I think. And I've got to say, thank you for all the people that reviewed, means a world and a star to me. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for you guys that have backed the ideas of the background story thing, although I don't really know if I should stop the story for a background chapter or keep it like a flashback sequence... So so tell me what you would like, PM me please, it's just so much easier, and if your a guest just go ahead. **

**This is adressing something that was brought up to my attention when someone PMed me about a certain issue that hadn't really been brought to the forefront. I know I've been following the route where Artemis and Wally are at grrr- stage, and Robin and Zatanna are sort of like meh, and Megan and Conner are full on yes, Raquel and Kaldur I haven't actually adressed (I should though, ae?). But this story will focus on Artemis, I am not confirming or denying Spitfire, but I am denying CHALANT. Sorry for you guys that really love this pairing, I love it too, but it just works best if this isn't a complete soppy romance ball of feck. **

**Thanks again for everyone who favourited, followed, reviewed, read... means a heap. **

**P.S. I'm like secretly watching the new Gotham episode and like I have to say watch it, honest to god it was better than I thought it would be. **

**MAILBOX:**

JewelStruck: ... YOU MADE MY DAY. 'nuff said.

The Shadow Keeper: Cool name btw, and thanks. Badass Robin is badass. I think... haven't really gone round to that yet, but erm. Thanks and stay frosty. (Did I really just do that?)

ArtemisBAMF1218: Thanks so much and I'm glad I put rocket in there too because she's like swag. And I don't think I'm going to take her down the teen mum route, although that is very interesting in the comics.

Featherheart: I think I'm hoping for badass Robin in every chapter, but alas it is not meant to be. Team bonding, heh, I should probably shove that in the pie somewhere :)

reader22681: Awe staph it... your makin' me blush. Haha, sorry couldn't resist. Thank you for your review, your questions will be answered soon-ish, depends how fast I can update doesn't it?

The Asterous Author: Thankies. And nope sorry, but I wil continue to hint at it.

c: And my mission is to make a good story for you to read :) Let's work together, eh?

Guest: Awe thank you... and that would be hilarious, but I have no idea how I would pull it off.

Guest: Thanks, and thanks for your support.

Terri Jones: Thanks veery much. :)


	5. Chapter 5

_Previously..._

_A creak, then a roll. The figure walked- or wheeled themselves forwards. Artemis kept a trained eye and aim on her and narrowed her eyes further, ready to let her fingers free of the string that lay nested in the crevices of them._

_As the light splayed over the scene in front of her she, once again, found herself wanting to fall back and leave the apartment, gone. But she forced herself to only take a few steps back and lowered her bow immediately._

_Letting out a shaky breath, "Mum?"_

* * *

><p>"What are you doing here?" Artemis spat out slowly, annunciating every word and syllable with uncanny hate and resentment. Paula noticed the look and her own eyes darkened in sorrow and hurt.<p>

"Green Arrow called, I got out of prison years ago. Imagine how I felt when I found out that my daughter was locked up in a juvenile detention facility in Happy Harbor."

"Mum, don't do this." Artemis hissed.

"I thought I _raised _you better, _taught _you better, _loved _you better." Paula said, her hand forming a fist on the rest of her armchair. "Because that was who you were, you were _better_."

Artemis' eyes flashed with a sheen of tears. Looking at her mother who was desperately trying to reach out and do something. But if anything she had learnt from meeting people from her past life, was that they didn't know you anymore, and she didn't know them.

"Don't you think you want to talk about this before you leave?" Paula cried after Artemis who was already halfway to the window. The archer spun around with a livid look on her face, cowl in her left and bow in her right.

"You think I _think _about these things, _mum_." She hissed, "What did you tell me, 'Thinking is for the undecided'? Well, _mum,_ here's me finally following your advice."

"Artemis, wait!"

"No, _don't_ Artemis me," she turned back around and stuck a leg out of the window, offering the last piece of her mind to Paula, "You didn't then, and you don't get to now."

With a desperate cry from Paula, Artemis disappeared into the night. Leaving a heartbroken mother in her wake. Artemis fought the fierce chill of the Gotham wind against her eyes as tears threatened to spill over.

She wiped her eyes angrily and shoved the cowl back over her head, her chest rising and falling quickly. Her mother had no right to come back into her life like that expecting Artemis would welcome her back with her arms wide open.

_No right._

* * *

><p>"I can choose, for myself!" A young Artemis shouted, folding her arms across her chest and pouting. Even at her six years of age she was very open minded, loud, temperamental, and expressive. She had to be, Jade was stupidly mysterious and2 her parents were… her <em>parents<em>.

"You don't get a choice in this." Lawrence Crock growled back, his hockey mask in hand.

"I don't want to be a thief." She cried, her blond pigtails sitting proudly like twins, "The teacher at school says that thieves are bad. I don't want to be _bad_."

Jade snorted, looking up from her magazine, "Oh yeah, spell 'thieves'."

Artemis scowled and turned back to her father, who looked dead set on his mission. "I don't want to learn how to steal, I'm going to grow up and be a doctor."

"Why would you want to be a doctor?" Her dad said, spitting the word out as if it was a needle on his tongue. Artemis just stuck her nose in the air and did the best to look him down, as best as she could, considering she was only one-third his size.

"Ms. Roberts says doctors help people _and_ get paid lots." She answered.

"Baby girl, I will teach you to do things my way one way or another, even if I have to beat it into-"

"Lawrence!" Paula cried, her head snapping up from doing the dishes. "Artemis dear, go do your homework. Jade, look after your sister."

Her older simply put down her magazine and walked over, rolling her eyes and sending a quick glare to her dad, putting a guiding hand on Artemis' shoulder and walking her out. Careful to slam the door shut so the adults knew that they were out of earshot and could start fighting, again.

"Jade, do you steal?" Artemis asked, tilting her head sideways and sinking down on her bed- she chose the sheets herself. Looking at her older sister, by four years, who was sat opposite her on the blue-sheeted bed.

Jade just smiled and lay back, her arms under her head and her feet crossed over one another, "Artemis, when you get to my age you'll understand that the world isn't split into black and white."

"Oh."

"But that doesn't mean you have to do this." Jade said, frowning. "You don't have to do what dad says, but I don't think you'll like the other choice."

"What's the other choice?" Artemis said, walking the small gap to lean on her bed and look at her sister more closely.

"Running away." Jade whispered, her eyes wide and unseeing.

"But then we'd get lost." Artemis said, her eyes going fearfully wide.

"Huh- that's funny." Jade laughed, her eyes glinting darkly.

"What's funny, Jade?"

"You think that we'd be together." Jade said, keeping a trained eye on the light above her bed, flickering every three seconds before fading and returning.

"What do you mean?" Artemis cried, grabbing her sister's arm, "We'll always to be together, right?"

"Let's just say, I've found a group of people that might be willing to help. With _or _without you." Jade smiled.

* * *

><p>'Recognized Artemis B-0-6'<p>

She marched straight to the kitchen, after spending one hour shooting arrows in a secret park she had found as a child at nothing in particular, dead-set on finally silencing her stomach. Dropping her cowl and bow onto the couch in the living room before silently walking to the fridge and having a mini bear hunt for something worthy of her patient stomach.

Reaching for the leftovers of what Megan, or who ever was on dinner duty that night, made she grabbed it before feeling a gush of wind behind her. Slamming the door shut and turning around she was faced with a widely grinning Wally. Who, unfortunately, noticed the tear tracks down her face, and bloodshot eyes.

"Woah. Have you been crying?" He asked, looking as if he was going to move to put a hand on her shoulder but thinking twice and staying back. Artemis glared and rubbed her eyes on instinct.

"No." She snarled back, and she visibly cringed when it came out broken and whispered.

"Artemis, are you okay?" He asked, worry filling all of his features and it _really_ took her a lot to just let him be and not yell at him for no reason. She just looked at him for a second, actually debating whether or not to tell him something.

And when her conscience _finally_ got through her hazy 'caught in the act' stage she just turned and walked away, collecting her bow and cowl, forgetting about her stomach. The only thing she really needed was to punch some punk up and leave him in the hospital so in three to six months she could target him again and the cycle would continue.

It may seem harsh, but so was she.

Pressing a hand to the new system she had decided to have on her door, the light briefly scanned it before beeping in confirmation. She stepped in and waited for the door to shut behind her before completely collapsing on the bed, even after all these years she had still chosen the same sheets, same company, same colour, same feel.

Honestly, it was pathetic.

Well, that's how she felt anyway. Pathetic, one word used to describe herself- not only by herself but by her father and her mother in her head at one point. Of course she only speculated about the mother thing, but she was pretty sure that it was there. No matter how hard she wanted it not to be.

Was she really someone that wanted to act like a complete and utter, excuse her mouth, bitch towards everyone?

Or was this just the real personality starting to show through the layers of grime that hand covered her since she started along this path?

Or was it just karma coming back and dumping everything on her for her early crimes and forcing her into a corner with no way to defend herself?

Times like these, she could only think that fate hated her. No matter what Zatanna said about fate, whether it be good or bad, she hated him- simply because he hated her.

A tapping knock sounded at her door. Artemis thought at the lightness and quickness of the tap it could have been Wally, who would (for some reason check up on her) so she stayed and shut her eyes willing for him to go away.

But the tapping persisted, and she angrily called out, "Go away."

"Artemis, it's Black Canary."

She shot up. Why would their trainer want to talk to her at midnight? Follow up question, why would she answer? Because really what would happen? Scratch that- she didn't want to find out.

"Please open up." Black Canary asked, her voice slightly muffled through the door.

Artemis sighed and got up, opening the door with a heavy hand and looking up at the sonic screeching bird warily. She expected something to happen, maybe a 'hello', or a growl, or even food. What she didn't expect was the hug that the mentor crushed her with.

It felt… _nice_.

Before Artemis could register what she was doing she was burying herself in the older woman and sobbing, for good reason obviously- it was something that hadn't happened in a while.

She was angry and sad and frustrated and lost and _hurt_. Everything just came barreling at her all at once and before she knew it, again, it was a whole new wave of tears and snot. Just _great_, she's crying ugly.

"Artemis," Black Canary said after a while, pulling away as the shorter tried to wipe away as many tears as she could. "Green Arrow told me what happened, he got a call from your mother about it. Are you okay?"

She scoffed, "I think that is one too many times for that question."

"Artemis."

"I'm _fine_." She insisted.

"You need to _talk_, Artemis. I can see it now, you've had years of pent up frustration and I don't think it's very healthy to keep it all bottled in." Black Canary said, hushing her tones.

"Alright, we talk. But I'm not telling you everything." Artemis sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. Black Canary nodded and signaled for her to follow to her room.

She sat down stoically on the green couch, folding her arms and propping her legs up as well. The room was… _nice_. It certainly was better than most counselor's rooms anywhere she'd been, and if the water wall proved anything it was yes- this place is very fancy.

Artemis wonders if anyone of the rest of her teammates had ever come here to talk. Had they mustered the courage to talk to someone who was a stranger to them and let everything out of the bag? Or were they like her and too stubborn and self-sufficient to talk to someone about their problems?

"You're not the first one to come in here." Black Canary says softly, noticing the look on the younger blonde's face, "I've got someone that comes in nearly every week, another who just likes the sounds in this room, and people that come and go when ever."

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" Artemis winced. She got a nod- yes.

"Artemis, do you want to tell me what's on your mind?" Black Canary said, leaning forward in her own chair to appear more friendly and open to her.

Artemis thought, there was the family issue, there was the Wally issue, there was the Robin issue… she was pretty sure she just had issues with everyone on the team. But then she didn't know what she was doing, she wasn't a hero. Artemis Crock was the furthest thing from a hero. Well… not the furthest, she just couldn't see how or why she would be doing this.

"It's Green Arrow." Artemis said quietly. If the shock on Black Canary's face was anything to go by, the shock on her face would be on skyrocketing levels. She hadn't even thought about the answer before it came out of her mouth _Hello, Artemis!_ What did Jade say to her when she was little? _That's cute, you don't have a filter._

"What about Green Arrow? Is he pressuring you to keep going, or making you feel bad or-"

"Look, I know you want to find out why Green Arrow, who's my _mentor_, is bothering me. But seriously, if I'm going to start opening up to you, you have to be honest with me." Artemis said, she eyes a steely grey, clashing with blue.

"Deal."

"Is there a chance of me getting out of here?"

"Of course there is, Artemis. We can't just keep you in here like a cooped up chicken, but you need to be able to deal with the world now, not with your room. Now, what's it about Green Arrow?"

Artemis faltered, her arms loosening for a second before she pulled her act back up. "I assume you know about my childhood." Black Canary nodded, "then you know that I'm not a hero. I get that you're trying to be nice and all, but this- the hero training- won't do anything."

There was a pregnant pause as Black Canary tried to get Artemis to meet her gaze, which ended in Artemis looking around awkwardly. She could understand why their fighting mentor would hate her now, she basically spat out that they couldn't bring her into their little cult.

"It's not going to do anything, Artemis." Black Canary said, gesturing softly with one hand. "You're already a good person, I can see that. But your upbringing has confused you. Artemis, I think you should talk to your mum. She might have something to say about all of this."

She scoffed. "Only to tell me that I'm a disgrace to the family."

"Would your mum really say that?"

Artemis thought about arguing but remembered so many times in her childhood that her mum had been the one to keep the peace and defend her when necessary. She liked her mother better, and Jade didn't like either of them (she thought her dad was pissed about that).

* * *

><p>Three weeks later, after Artemis sees her sister climb through the window with a bruise on her arm in the middle of the night she decides to take the offer up. She always wanted to be like Jade, and now it was her chance.<p>

Her first training was harsh. Her dad punched her around and her arm was broken. The story they had given the hospital was that she had been climbing a tree and fell, thus breaking her arm. Paula wasn't at all happy, her and Lawrence having another row in the middle of the night. Jade was angry- she didn't speak to her dad for a week and refused to train with him, insisting on going out to the city on her own.

After that, even with Paula standing on the sideline watching everything, Artemis was still layering up in amounts of layers to go to school- to make sure that no one even caught a peep of the litter of bruises covering fifty percent of her small body.

Day after night, and night after day, she tired herself in working her body to go beyond her breaking point. None of her friends had caught on that the bubbly Artemis was slowly growing colder, more calculating and more suspicious. Her teachers have noticed slight changes, the annoying glares she would give anyone that disrupted the class, the growing darker outlook on the world, the want to read something from the older section of the library, but no one questioned it.

"Artemis, what do you want for lunch today?" Paula asks from the kitchen. Artemis, who was engrossed in a book about weapons that her dad had given her, looked up.

"Eggs." She said, going back to her book.

Her dad wanted her to chose a weapon, and fast. Something that she could grow up training with and be highly skilled at. Jade revealed that she was most prominent in sais and swords. But those seemed too harsh for Artemis, too great a need to look graceful and deadly at the same time (not to mention she didn't like the look of them).

"Can I ask why you want eggs, young lady? You hate eggs." Paula said, a tone of wonder and surprise hidden beneath the veils of the mother voice.

"Dad said it's good for what we do, it'll make me strong." Artemis waved off.

"Are you sure you want to do this." Paula said, coming and grabbing her daughter's attention. "You don't have to do what your father wants you to do, it's your choice."

"You do it."

"I do it because it's how I live, but you can have a better life." Paula said, stars dancing in her eyes at the thought of Artemis growing up to be a normal person- no crime, no fighting, no killing.

"I _want _to."

* * *

><p>Morning struck the next day, the only indication was the sound of the six o'clock alarm they hadn't bothered fixing on the speakers around the mountain. Mountain… funny. She lived in a mountain, she felt like something from Harry Potter (or is that not relevant?).<p>

A mountain that they had to climb, which actually sucked balls. They spent a day hike up Mount Justice, fitting name, had a picnic up at the top and then descended by sliding down on a clear patch the leaguers had cleared out earlier. But today was Friday: Mission Day. _Not,_ that they had a set days for when they went on missions, it's just they tended to be on Friday.

"Doctor Roquette went missing five weeks ago. We want you to find her." Batman said.

Artemis looked at the photos, Doctor Roquette: everything you would expect from a doctor- smart looking. Robin was in the middle of saying something before the zeta tubes started whirring, they all turned sharply to face the bright yellow circle.

No one came in and out of the cave if they weren't related to the hero business, and trust her- there was a lot of them. Like a cult.

The outline of the body started appearing, tall, muscular, cropped hair, good posture, quiver on his back- wait, what? She was immediately on edge, there weren't any other archers… were there?

"Roy." Robin breathed out in realization, and she swore she saw a brief look of guilt on his face before he covered it with the mask.

'Roy' was walking towards them. Bow in his hand, red, mask on his face, his suit looked like he got some inspiration from Green Arrow. What, was his code name Red Arrow?

"It's Red Arrow, now." Red Arrow spat. _Oh_.

"Roy, what are you doing here?" Batman said, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Doctor Roquette, abducted by the League of Shadows five weeks ago." Red Arrow said, bringing up his own information onto the display.

Artemis cringed, the League of Shadows. That was where she had set her sights when she was being criminally trained. They were the biggest group of assassins in the world, the best, the cleanest, and she wanted in. The only problem for her at that age was their fearless leader; Ra's Al Ghul was not someone she ever wanted to cross paths with.

"You want us to rescue her from the Shadows? Hardcore." Wally breathed, his eyes going wide beneath his mask. Artemis scoffed and rolled her eyes. "What, you got something to say, Farty?"

"Just that your ability to be start struck by a bunch of assassins for hire really speaks for you." She smiled sarcastically.

"What do you know about the Shadows?" He rebuffed, she just smiled to herself and turned her attention back to the screens. Red Arrow had initiated the staring contest, catching her eye from the front of the picture. He narrowed his eyes as she did, and her hand tightened on her bow.

"Who's she?" He asked, more demanded… but you know, what ever works for you.

"_She_ is right here, and _she_ can answer for herself." Artemis growled back, noticing that Batman had left the room, probably waiting this out and letting Black Canary take the reigns.

"Who are you, then?" He spat back, his anger becoming very apparent.

"Artemis. But what are you going to do with that? Stalk me?" She taunted, hand going to her hip as Zatanna noticeable widened her eyes from beside her. Roy just burst, and it wasn't pretty- like popping a zit.

"I was the first archer, you're my replacement." He smiled triumphantly.

What? She face went inert, her arms slacking, and she really hoped that she wasn't showing any emotions right now, because all she felt was anger and hurt. But she picked herself back up.

"Is that why you're called Red Arrow? Original, ten points to you. But let me ask, when you were being Robin Hood did you wear a yellow hat and call yourself _Speedy_?" She smiled, oh yes. She so knew that the hat Green Arrow showed her would come in handy one day, mainly because some dweeb stitched in ' Y' on the inside.

Apparently that was him, because hi whole face was turning red with anger and annoyance.

"Do you even know how to use that thing?" He said, even though she couldn't see his eyes, she could tell that he was _steaming_. She nodded once,

"Do you want me to demonstrate, maybe if you get your yellow cap we can plonk it on your head and I can shoot it off, but be careful- I'm a little _rusty_." Artemis never thought she would have so much fun taunting one teen guy, who obviously had some hatty issues.

"Okay, guys. Simmer down." Black Canary called, coming between the two of them. Which she now realized that she had _him_ had been very intensely imaginary-murdering each other. "The mission is now to protect her. Roy has stashed her at the local high school from the looks of it-"

"Are you stupid?" Robin scoffed. Galring lasers into the older, much taller boy- who seemed to be wilting under the younger's glare. "At the high school, that's not safe."

"Who are you to talk about safe, the last I heard you were out-"

"That's enough!" Black Canary cried, desperately wishing she could justify using her Canary Cry just _once_. "We are a team, Red Arrow, you have brought this to the team- which means it's there mission now."

He glowered. "I guess I'll be going then, _Dinah_. See you soon." He said on his way out. As he passed her, "Replacement." If she wasn't so pissed at him right now she would have noticed the 'thief' sent Robin's way.

If she only knew that she would find someone that she possibly more that Wally…

"Head out, we leave in five minutes."

* * *

><p>The classroom wasn't that different to the ones she remembered. Just with less graffiti, gum, broken windows, a few missing chairs, half a desk, and the taser sitting in the corner. It was sort of a memory ringer for Artemis, school had been something done at a desk in a cement cell with a old lady that wore glasses and talked fondly of her cats.<p>

"He looked like a cool dude, don't you think?" Kid Flash said, leaning against one of the walls in stealth mode. "Red Arrow, I mean- not whoever we were just talking about." Robin looked chalant, he would be proud, about it. But something told her that they knew each other.

"Meh, he's just another angsty teen that likes to shoot arrows, like Artemis." The bird cackled.

And of course all of his was going on inside of their heads, because they needed to stay as silent as possible to hear any incoming Shadows. So Artemis scrunched up her features and sighed,

"This feels _weird_."

"Not to mention distracting," The doctor said, typing away furiously on the computer, "decoding a distributed algorithm on a keyboard computer with less ram than a wrist watch is hard enough- now I have to hear _teen _think in my skull!"

Artemis was in a way, very pleased with herself because she lived to annoy the hell out of this lady- she was just too easy to rile up.

"Lady do you always complain this much when someone tries to help you." Kid Flash grinned, eating his 'protein' bar (she was pretty sure that was code for chocolate).

"Pot, kettle have you met?" Artemis sighed, signaling with both hands.

He got on the defensive immediately, "Hey I do not need sass from the person who drove Red Arrow off the team."

"He wasn't going to ever be part of the team." She yelled back (head wise).

"Fate of the world at stake here!" The Doc exclaimed.

"She started it." Kid Flash said.

"You're fighting may have been tolerable in the mountain, but out here on the field it is _not._ Get your head in the game." Kaldur cut off whatever Artemis was planning to say.

She whistled, Kaldur had never gotten snippy at anyone of them. "How about I help Miss Martian and Superboy patrol the perimeter?"

"That would be good." Kaldur said back, and then she couldn't hear anything but the voices of Robin and Kid Flash having a ninja vs pirates argument. Which she was pretty sure was being held to try and piss Kaldur off.

* * *

><p>"Miss Martian, Dr. Roquette has tracked the fog. Prepare the bio-ship for Robin and Superboy." Kaldur called, while Robin came running out of the school, followed by Superboy.<p>

"Ready." Miss Martian said. Artemis' eyes trained on the bioship that floated down from it's perch in the sky. Her and her fellow green friend walking back into the school, she could feel eyes on her. Artemis turned around and took a look.

"Is everything alright, Artemis?" Miss Martian asked.

"Yeah, I just thought I saw something." Artemis said, trailing off. "I'm sure it's just a cat or something, let's stay out just to make sure."

"I don't know what you feel about this, but I'm pretty sure Red Arrow didn't like the way you talked to him today." Miss Martian said, "shouldn't you have at least tried to be nicer?"

"Didn't hear him complaining." Artemis said.

"Must you challenge everything?" Miss Martian said back, hell-bent on getting a good explanation out of Artemis. The blonde just smiled and looked out,

"Where I came from, that's how you survived."

"But you're not there anymore I d-"

"Um, guys." Kid Flash called through the link, "I think we have company, I think I saw someone snooping around the pool."

"Check it out, but don't alert them to our presence." Kaldur said with authority.

"You got it boss."

A few minutes later with no talk over the link Kaldur called out, "M'gann, Kid, Artemis, we are under attack in the computer lab."

Artemis had already been running through the school halls with a arrow nocked at the ready. "On our way."

She ran down the halls with her blood thumping in her ears, adrenaline coursing through her veins and her arrow ready to be set free. When she arrived in the computer lab she saw Kaldur being knocked down by an unknown, Shadow most likely. Without much thought she aimed her arrow at the sai poised to take Aqualad's life and let it go. The assassin let go of the weapon with a cry.

She turned to face her, "Don't move."

The masked lady just laughed, reminding her more and more of Jade, "This gig's getting interesting." She whipped out a sword and stood at the ready for Artemis to shoot. Blocking every single one of her shots with practiced eased.

Kid Flash and Miss Martian raced in, the assassin caught their presence. "Maybe a little too interesting." Artemis nocked an Arrow and shoot right as the lady pulled out a flash bomb and left in the cover of their blindness.

To which she somehow ended up hugging Wally West. Ew.

He stepped back quickly and looked around, "gone."

"She's getting away. Why are you letting her get away?" Roquette yelled.

Just then Zatanna and Rocket came in, they were patrolling the wider area outside of the school grounds- therefore out of range. So, boy was Artemis please to see them all right.

"This is all your fault!" Kid Flash cried at Artemis.

"This is all who's fault?" Zatanna asked, her gloved hands clasped with each other in front of her, Rocket just standing there surveying the damage done to the school property.

"You were on perimeter, how'd that Shadow get in?" He continued asking. Artemis walked up to him and narrowed her eyes dangerously, her grey eyes glinting in the light, clashing against the green of his.

"That's not really fair," Miss Martian said, "I was outside on perimeter, too."

"Don't forget us two here." Rocket shot up, smiling widely at Artemis who had turned her glare back to the group.

"Outside being distracted by her, besides I can't be mad at you. You gave me mouth to mouth." He said suggestively through the mind link. Everyone chorused a 'we heard that' and watched Wally's face go from totally happy to totally trapped and pissed.

"Artemis, you did fine. Whoever that Shadow was she was good." Miss Martian said bringing a hand to her shoulder. "I wouldn't have done half as well as you did."

"Focus everyone, The Shadows will be back." Aqualad said.

_"Robin to Aqualad. We're over Philadelphia. We've located the Shadows next target, Star Labs. We're too late, its destroyed, totally destroyed, the fog decimated it. This is bad; Star Labs is cutting edge science and know their secrets are in the hands of the enemy. What's our next move?" _Robin said over the com link, Artemis' eyes widened. This was so not the way a mission goes, well not for them anyway.

Their next plan had Miss Martian disguised as the doc and stay in a new place with Artemis and Kid Flash as protectors and Aqualad running the perimeter check. They waited for what seemed like forever when finally the Shadows came, but this time it wasn't only the green kimono lady- she had brought friends.

Artemis looked back to see a bulky guy with a hook standing behind her with a very 'I'm not a good person' look on his face. She aimed and fired, "Don't stop working."

The fight seemed to go on forever as she kept firing arrows at the man who had ducked and ran to be covered by the benches. She started getting worried about the amount of arrows she had left in her quiver, because if Green Arrow says it's enough it most certainly isn't.

"Martian's here. It's now or never." Cried the lady, now sounding a lot like Jade- it was always never for her. Artemis looked back to see Megan still in her guise, and the next thing she knew she was being knocked over by a flying hook.

"We've been duped."

Miss Martian flew up and transformed back into her gear, "You'll never find Doctor Roquette."

"Never is such a long time," Mask lady purred, "pursuing target, keep them busy."

Artemis made a split second decision and followed, "Pursuing their leader, take the rest down."

Wally turned to her, "you are so not the boss of me."

She was pissed, and no Wally was going to stop that, "Just do it."

She ran out after her, and could see the assassin in her sights. Artemis ran and ran, not thinking one single thought. When she had a clearer shot she took it, but the assassin blocked it with one of her sais like it was nothing to her.

"I was hoping it's be you." She said with a humored tone. Who the hell did this lady think she was? Some sort of ninja god? Na-uh. Artemis followed her further and further, down the streets of Happy Harbor, past a few shops, watching the intricacy of the movements of her target. She moved so gracefully, like a _cat_.

Artemis shot an arrow, a gasses arrow. And it hit the brick with a _chink_. The gas was released and the assailant went down with a cough. Artemis nocked an arrow and pointed at her, getting closer to make sure she was down.

But the assassin was up and fighting with a kick of her feet. "Mask has built in filters." Artemis growled. She threw the next kick, and aimed a punch after that was blocked but found herself in a tight arm lock.

"Better luck next time, _kid_." She purred, Artemis swore her vision went red with the pressure being put on her arm. And with one swift knock to her back she fell with an oomph.

* * *

><p>She could see her walking out of the building, and with a second she knocked four bomb arrows and shot them right at the assassins feet. When she heard the charge she jumped down and brought up another arrow. She could already see the discarded mask on the pavement, one step down.<p>

When the smoke cleared she spoke, "Don't move a muscle."

The assassin got up and gave a shake of her head. "Wow. I am completely at your mercy." With a slow turn that made Artemis feel sick she turned and faced her.

Artemis' grip got tighter on the bow as she recognized that face- the one that left her.

"You."

"I suppose now you bring me to justice, let your new friends interrogate me. I wonder if your position's secure enough to survive them learning _everything_ I know." Jade said. Artemis knew it was over, as soon as her past was brought into this it was over.

"Jade, what happened to you." She whispered, "Are the Shadows the group you were talking about?"

Jade laughed, "That's cute, you think I'm going to tell you. Here's one last thing to remember me by, the mask."

"You've got to be kidding me." Artemis scoffed.

"That's what I thought. So like the Cheshire Cat, I'll just disappear." Jade said, taking steps backwards until she was gone in the fog that she had emitted from the bombs. Artemis swallowed gravely and relaxed her bow, putting it down at her side again.

Jade was back. Jade was in Happy Harbor. Jade was still Jade. Jade was an assassin. Jade was a killer. Jade was her sister. Jade was Cheshire.

Aqualad walked out being supported by Roquette and breathing in pants, "Artemis where's the assassin?"

'I let her get away.' Artemis looked down, "She uh- she got away."

"O, from you? O, big surprise. Notice we got ours." Kid Flash said, not being careful at all about dosing the sarcasm on. But Artemis ignored it and kept walking to where she knew there was a zeta tube.

He must have noticed the mask on the ground, "Cool, souvenir."

Kaldur walked up, "Her mask? Did you see her- her face?"

'Yes' "It was dark."

Kaldur saw the tension in her muscles and on her grip on the bow, "It is fine."

"We should uh- get back to the cave. It's been a long night." Artemis said, walking away from the group without bothering to hear what anyone had to say about it.

Zatanna called after her, "Artemis, are you okay? You're looking a little down."

Artemis just kept walking and ignored her friend, who was probably going to find out soon- lucky her.

She should have _known_. From the very start Jade had to be somewhere, she wasn't just gone. Technically she had been gone, but now she was back and it's completely messing things up for her. Suddenly all her family is rushing back into her life, her sister, her mum- next thing she might know is that her daddy dearest will come back demanding for her to go to training with him next week.

She should have known from the beginning when Jade first turned up that it was her sister. It was all so obvious. The sais, Jade's favourite weapon, the kimono, Jade loved to keep in touch with asian culture, the mask, a representation of the Cheshire Cat- their favourite tale when they were younger.

Everything was so obvious, how had she missed it?

_Click._

Without hesitation she grabbed and arrow and nocked it, coming down from twirling and into a crouch. "Step into the light. _Now_." She prayed it was some thug she could pummel and put six feet underground- because she wanted nothing more to take her anger on something else but the dummies in the training room.

"Nice move, makes me really think that the old man has been training you." Red Arrow said, stepping out into the light. The frown on his face was enough to show her that he was as pissed as she was. "But we both know what kind of person you are."

"You know nothing." She growled back, raising her bow back to make sure she had a clear aim if she needed. "So don't pretend like you do."

"I won't, but I think I know the person you are, Artemis." Red Arrow said, his body enveloped in the shadows being cast around the alley. "And it won't be long until your precious team finds out."

She stared at him, was he seriously one of the good guys? It was like he has a stick shoved up his ass. How uptight and boring could you get? Not to mention rude.

"How do you know him… Robin?" She asked as his back was being turned.

"That's what he's going by now?" Roy scoffed, "If I were you, I'd stay away from him."

"And you honestly think I'm going to take advice from you?" She laughed hollowly, even to her it sounded off. Red Arrow walked up to her and stared her down, and she swore if she had another head she would be staring him down into the depths of the fiery pits of hell.

"I wouldn't take advice from your _sister_ either, but you did."

"How do you know about that?" Artemis whispered, eyes going wide.

Red Arrow walked away, "Secrets have a way of finding themselves out in the open."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: HELLO-E! I have finished all my horrible, horrible, horrible exams and projects and now I'm free to write! Not totally, which kind of sucks and I really hope that you guys really enjoyed this chapter, and I know it is a lot longer than sones I've previously posted. But it's my sorry for taking so long to do all of this.**

**Big thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter ILY, it means a heap and thanks to everyone who read this. PLEASE review, I absolutely love hearing comments about my writing, give me pros, cons, and general stuff. **

**Mailbox:**

xXLostParadoxXx: Thank you so much!

JewelStruck: Haha, thanks but I wouldn't know... about the pumpkin thing. Where I live we don't really celebrate halloween.

21 is awesome: I swear that this chapter is not a cop out! :)

ArtemisBAMF1218: Awe thanks!

The Shadow Keeper: Thank you so much, I think I'm going to keep Robin a mystery for a bit longer...

C: Love Gotham! and Arrow! and The Flash!


	6. Chapter 6

Artemis made her way down the hallways and turned right into 'uncharted territory'- The boy's rooms. And no she was definitely not here for the first reasons that may have popped into anyone's mind. No _way_. She was here because Robin was turing out to be a serious issue, Red Arrow didn't like him, she got the feeling that she wouldn't like him if she knew him better, and he was just being mysteriously annoying.

Honestly, no one in their right mind would be as happy and cheerful and still brooding and calm as Robin every single day. Or was going off to fight crime in Gotham with a man that was dressed like a bat, who even had pointy ears.

Knocking loudly on his door and waiting for him to open up, she had a look around. The hallway was dimly lit and the doors were all the same, metal, sliver, harsh. The click of the door and the whoosh of it opening alerted her back to the fact that she was waiting outside a fourteen year old rooms bedroom in a hoddie and sweatpants. She was just so full of class.

She looked down at Robin who was glaring at her through his mask and internally growling at her.

"What? Wally wasn't available for cuddling and you figure that the small one would be great?" He snapped, obviously letting the sleep deprivation get to him a little more that it should have when he was in full control.

Artemis shook her head violently, "No."

"Well then what the hell?" He whisper-screamed at her. "It's two in the morning and I am halfway through coding a distributed algorithm that could hack into the satellites around the world all at once. You better have a good reason to be interrupting."

"I couldn't sleep," she said, "Roy said something to me earlier that's been bugging me this whole time."

"You seriously let Speedy get into your head?" Robin scoffed, sounding less than impressed. "The guys a walking fire head."

Artemis took in a deep breath. "Can I come in?"

Robin didn't say anything, but moved to let her in. She steeped inside timidly because she was expecting to see weapons and bats hanging everywhere. But she was greeted with nothing, no personal decorations or anything that could be traced to Robin specifically.

"Looking for something?" he asked, taking a seat in front of his three computers and typing quickly, solely focused on the screens of code in front of him.

"You don't have anything in your room, no photos, no belongings. Makes me wonder where you came from." She said, taking a seat on his neatly made bed- black sheets- and looking at the mop of black hair. He just waved a hand.

"If you haven't noticed I don't really stay in the cave that much. You are so lucky I needed space to work this code or you would have been waiting outside my door for ages. Wonder what Wally would say." He chuckled, not breaking a single stroke of the keys as the almost rhythmic sounds of typing filled the room.

"What's going on with you and Roy?" She asked, ignoring his Wally comment and getting straight to the question that brought her here. Robin didn't show any sign of surprise as she fired her question and simply cocked his head to the side.

"What did he say to you?" He asked.

Artemis folded her arms over her chest. "He told me to stay away and basically not trust you. Know why he thinks like that?"

"God he sounds like I'm the guy that's going to get you killed." Robin scoffed, an amused tone setting into his voice, "and yes I know exactly why he thinks like that. It's none of your business."

"So you're going to never speak about your past and keep everything under bolt and lock." She accused.

Over the days she had noticed that Robin had tendencies, not big, big ones- but tendencies. He never talked about his past, his identity was kept under top-secret security and he avoided anything that could come into effect with both.

"Not now, but sometime in the future. Why do you want to know so badly?" He admitted.

"Because Roy knows about Jade." She whispered.

"Your sister? Wasn't she the League agent that was sent to kill the doc?" Robin asked. He had hacked into the live street cameras and played back and watched the scene that unfolded in front of that internet café.

"Yeah. Cheshire. My sister." Artemis sarcastically cheered. "I can't believe she left me to join up with the League of Shadows. Honestly- was she that sick of me?"

"Artemis," Robin cut through in a small voice, finalizing his programme and swiveling in his chair to face her. "Your sister didn't hate you, she left so it would be easier for you."

Artemis looked at him blankly. _She left so it would be easier for you_. How the hell did it make it easier, or how the hell did it help her. Honestly, the first question that she should have asked was: How the hell did Robin know?

"You're kidding." She said. "If my life was easier, I wouldn't have been sent to Juvie _twice_. I wouldn't have been shoved in here for _five_ years and then been told that 'har-har' we're kidding we only want you to be a hero. If my life was easier I would have a perfect family, a non-abusive dad, a great sister, and a mum that actually cared for my physical and mental wellbeing. She didn't make _anything _easier. My life has been a truck load of absolute _bull_, and I am so tired of people telling me lies."

Artemis breathed in and out heavily and realized she had been bottling up so many different emotions and thoughts. Apparently she had also decided that screaming them out loud to Robin was the best therapy she could get at this point.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, a hand covering her mouth. "I guess I'm a little out of emotional depth here."

Robin looked understanding and empathetic towards her, which was great. This was exactly what she needed- to look weak in front of one of the most ninja-est people on the team. "S'all right. My walls are soundproofed. Besides you haven't met emotionally challenged until you spend time in the Batcave with Batman."

"Right." Artemis drawled, "But you obviously have no idea what to do because unlike some other weird sensei person you can't use analogies from your past to help me through this block."

Robin cackled and shook his head with humor. "I don't even know a sensei that would ever use their own pasts as an analogy."

"That's one step closer to getting an answer." She chuckled.

"Why do you want to know so badly, Artemis? I don't think that my past has anything to do with yours." Robin asked.

Artemis watched him for a moment before mustering an answer that might sound decent out loud. "Because you're a mystery. I don't like mysteries, if you haven't been able to tell. Something's just familiar about you, the way you move, the way you handle pressure, the way you _fight. _I can't pinpoint it but it's such a _Gotham _thing."

Robin paused before smiling sadly, "I think that you look far too deep into these things. I keep who I am a secret because if anyone knew, it would put them in danger. That includes you Artemis."

"Will you ever tell us what happened to you?" She asked sadly, standing up and moving to open the door. Robin froze and pressed the release button from his computer and sighed.

"Go to sleep, Artemis."

* * *

><p>She was swinging from rooftop to rooftop, unlocking and re-locking her bow to travel across the zip lines. Green Arrow had gone to the East side of Star City, while she took the West. It was days like these where she was really grateful that he didn't think of her as damaged goods, or untrustworthy.<p>

As she ran across the skyline of the city of stars she was stopped by a white-hot pain radiating from her arm. She dropped the bow as a reflex and looked around for the source, crying out as she watched blood flow out of the deep gash.

Out of nowhere a swift and hard kick landed on her rib cage and she fell to the floor. Bringing her head up to look into the eyes of someone she never thought she would see again.

"Who the hell are you?" She spat out. Grabbing an arrow from her quiver and lunging at the man with it, he swiftly dodged and punched her from behind. Another hiss of pain found it's way to her lips as she landed the arrow into his leg, slowing down his motor functions.

He yowled in pain and yanked the arrow out, tossing it aside.

"Here I am, thinking that I had a memorable face. Nice to know that my daughter thinks of me fondly." He chuckled. Kicking her viciously again.

Artemis howled out in pain, tears leaking from her eyes as she stared up at her father.

"You're dead." She hissed out. "You _died_. I saw you _die_."

Lawrence chuckled darkly using his hand to force her to look at him, grabbing her chin in a vice grip that could have the potential to break her face. "You need to stop believing everything you see. Death is just an illusion."

"Why?" She chocked out, mauling at his hands that hand found themselves at her neck, strangling her. "Dad. Dad!"

"It's time you learnt, baby girl. This world is going to do much worse than this." He mumbled darkly before she felt a white hot sear of pain radiate from her head. Her vision failed to find a way to work with all the pain and she was blinded for a second,

"Dad." She croaked out, "Please."

Another sear of hot pain and she screamed.

"Artemis!" A voice called, shaking her arm. "Artemis!"

She blinked and tried to make out the group of people huddled around her.

"Z- Zatanna?" She whispered out, making out the blue eyes peeping out from the mess of black curls. "Wha- What are you doing here? Where is he?"

"Artemis it was a nightmare." M'gann said, sitting on the other side of her single bed. "You're safe here, no one's coming to hurt you."

Artemis looked up at M'gann and noticed the tear tracks down her face. "Megan, you've been crying."

The Martian laughed silently and nodded her head, "Yeah, your dream was very, _very_ detailed and emotional, and you could say I just have a talent for making myself feel others emotions."

"I'm sorry." Artemis offered, sitting up and wiping the tears that were freshly running down her face. "I didn't want you to cry about my dreams."

"You have to want me to, Artemis. I'm your friend, and what you feel I feel, literally." Megan smiled, lights appearing in her eyes.

Artemis looked around the room and counted that everyone in the team was here. In her room. Wally, Conner, Kaldur, Megan, Raquel, Robin, Zatanna, even Wolf- all of them were in her room. Why were they all in her room? Really she shouldn't have been having that bad of a nightmare, and if she was they could have gotten Megan to try snap her out of it.

"Why is everyone in my room?" She asked, looking around and looking at everybody, "And how did you get in?"

"Robin hacked your door." Zatanna blurted, "And we are here because apparently we were going to surprise you for your birthday."

Artemis' eyes widened and her mouth went slack. It was her birthday. Her one day of the year that she had spent celebrating with herself in her room balled up in the corner crying, because that was her gift to herself. (It was a very good gift). The day she spent every year pretending in front of everyone that she had enjoyed the day and that she was grateful that 'Hey! Even though I'm stuck in prison, I am thankful for you giving me a cake that I don't like'.

"It's my birthday."

An unspoken 'yes' resounded in the room, and even though it may have been silent it sounded so loud to Artemis. Like a punch in the face that would leave you in a coma for a week, she's been through that before and she still hasn't forgotten it.

"Well, thanks." Artemis said, looking up and locking eyes with everyone in the room. "It really means heaps. Now, uh, can I get some privacy?"

"Let's go, mi amigos." Wally announced, running out of the room before anyone could process his sentence. The left just left in pairs, or one by one. All leaving Megan and Artemis in the room.

Megan moved to leave, but something held her back- something that was on her mind. "You know you can always talk to us about you past, right? I know I don't really have the place or right to try and sound like I know what you've been through. But those dreams, if they were dreams, they look terrifying, and I just wish you wouldn't have to face them alone."

Artemis looked at Megan and smiled sadly and thankfully, "Thanks, Megan. I appreciate it."

Megan mumbled something like, 'No problem', but Artemis had no attention to pay attention to anything right now but her thoughts.

Her sixteenth birthday, she had been looking forward to this day for ages because when she thought she was in a prison, it meant that she would be granted her freedom. Not that stealing and maiming someone was on her to do list _again_. Not at all.

And she couldn't help but think that there was one person that she would want to spend this day with, one person that she could talk to, begin to forgive, start to reconcile, and build a stronger relationship with. It was time for her to go home.

* * *

><p>She stood in front of the apartment and waited after her echoing knock. The door opened and she could feel her heart beat more erratically. She wasn't even sure if she was wanted here, and if she would be sent away or asked to stay.<p>

"Artemis."

"Hi, mom."

Paula was touched, and happy to see her daughter. To be honest, she wasn't sure how they stood as a mother and daughter after their abrupt reunion and un-reunion.

"I'm sorry." Artemis blurted out. "I shouldn't have said the things I said and I definitely shouldn't have. And I came off as a total bi-"

"Language." Paula cut across. Artemis let out a laugh.

"Thanks, mum." Artemis finalized, "can I- can I come in?"

Paula nodded, "Artemis, what sort of question is that? This is your home."

Artemis walked in awkwardly and clasped her hands in front of her. Looking around nothing had changed, the walls were the same icky colour they had been years ago, the ferns were silently and slowly dying in the corners, and their ugly couch still stood firmly were it had been when she left.

"Nothing's changed." Se whispered, turning slowly to try and take in all the detail of the small apartment.

Paula scoffed, "I haven't had the time to change it. Or the heart."

She shook her head in amusement and continued walking to the kitchen, "How do you like your tea? Green, right?" Artemis asked, getting the kettle out- thank god that she knew where things still were, or it would have been a maze trying to find the stupid thing.

"Artemis." Paula warned, "It's your first night back, you shouldn't have to make me tea. If anything I should be making you a drink."

"What are you talking about?" Artemis asked, turning her body and leaning against the counter top.

"You didn't think I'd forget it was your birthday, right? What kind of mother would I be?" Paula said, Artemis opened her mouth to say something but decided not to argue with her mother, who she only just got back.

"I want to here everything, how is the team?" She said, wheeling herself around and making tea.

"It's um, good. How did you know about the team?" Artemis asked, taking a seat and smoothing out her brown jacket. Paula just continued making the tea and waited to answer until she was opposite her daughter.

"Green Arrow told me. I'm proud of you, Artemis. I always have been." Paula reached out to grasp one of Artemis' hands with her own and squeezed gently with a smile. "You are the best thing I could have wished for."

"Did you know?" Artemis asked suddenly, looking at her mother with earnest, "What happened to Jade, I mean?"

Paula pulled back and shook her head slowly, keeping her eyes trained on Artemis at all times.

"She's with the Shadows." Artemis said, unable to hide the spite and annoyance in the sentence. Her mum's eyes widened and her mouth fell agape.

"How do you know?"

"She was the assassin that was sent to kill the person we were protecting tonight." Artemis said. "Hey- you are sure that dad's gone, right? I know that you thought he was good at heart. Deep, deep, _deep_ down. But are you sure he's gone?"

"Artemis, why do I feel like your going to tell me off for wanting Lawrence to be alive?" Paula warned. "He's gone. I am sure of it, and you should be too. You were there."

"I know." Artemis dejected, "I've just been thinking a lot about him recently. Not all of its happy memories."

Paula reguarded her daughter for a second before smiling. "I think we've gotten ourselves at a point where we can't stop thinking about the people in our lives. So, why don't you tell me about the friends in yours, and then we can go out for dinner."

"Sure." Artemis smiled. "Well first off there's the team: Zatanna, Megan, Raquel, Kaldur, Robin, Conner and Wally. Then there are the League members who run the operation, Batman, Black Canary, and Red Tornado."

"Ah, so you are looked after by the Justice League. Good," Paula muttered, "At least you have a good influential crowd."

"You know about them, the Justice League?" Artemis asked, it was her understanding that the League was a secret group of people that had weird abilities, minus the non meta-humans. And that they normally operated behind the government or pubic knowing about them.

"Artemis, things have changed in five years. The League saved the earth from a hostile take over by Martians four years ago. Besides Batman was a major headline in the Gotham news and places all over America when he first arrived."

"So you know about Robin?" Artemis pressed.

"Robin? That younger hero in Gotham that's been pictured everywhere now? Yes. He appeared about a year and a half ago." Paula mused.

"A year and a half ago?" Artemis repeated. The team had only been functional for around half a year; actually- they had only been together for half a year. They had barely began going on missions. Which meant that Robin wasn't brought in for stealing as he said he was, Batman just wanted him on the team, maybe to report intel or news about anyone of them. Secrets that they may have shared behind their mentor's backs.

"Are you okay?" Paula asked.

_No._ She wanted to say. She was not all right. She was far, far from all right. So far that she didn't know whether to trust Zatanna anymore, because she had been Artemis' closest friend on the team and she was also (conveniently) close to Robin.

"I'm fine." Artemis smiled, the light not reaching her eyes. "Why don't we go out for lunch instead? I just remembered that we have a mission tonight."

Paula nodded, "Of course. Have you thought of staying here?"

Artemis' eyes widened at the suggestion, "I didn't think I could. Why?"

"Green Arrow mentioned that everyone was soon going to be able to stay where they wanted and return to school, I thought he told you." Paula said, confusion and hope mixing in her eyes.

"Um, okay. I think I will stay here. It is home after all." Artemis smiled widely. And for once, she knew this was the right decision.

* * *

><p>Artemis stormed back into the cave, with the computer announcing her arrival to everyone. She was mad, and in the second that she had traveling between places she had made up her mind that she wouldn't keep it a secret, and that she was going to confront Robin about his sketchiness.<p>

No matter how little time it had taken her to come to that judgment.

As soon as the bird came into her line of sight she acted, not like the controlled and think-first person she had become, but acted like she had in the beginning- rash. She aimed a puch at his face that he took without question and rubbed his cheek while Wally sped over to help his friend.

"What the hell, Artemis?" He shouted at her.

But Artemis ignored him and glared at Robin, who in no way seemed affected by it. Which angered her even more. Was it ignorance, or egotisticalness, or a lack of understanding that had led them to this point in their friendship?

"I was having a great chat with my mum today, and guess what she said? That's you'd appeared on the scene in Gotham a _year and a half ago_. This team has only been complete for six months. So I want to know why the hell you were made to come in. Did Batman send to spy on us? Did you even commit a crime?" Artemis spat at the bird, who looked slightly uncomfortable- good.

"I came in when I came in because that's when Batman decided that if I was randomly pushed in a team with people that had known each other for at least a month that I would be seen as the enemy in the group. And we didn't want that, so I came in with Raquel and Zatanna." Robin admitted, running a hand through the mop of hair he had.

"So you let everyone believe that we were in a prison for a month. You never told us anything, you kept it a secret." Artemis pushed, looking at Wally who looked confused and understanding at the same time.

"I knew." Wally fronted, "He told me two weeks after he arrived."

Artemis raised her eyebrows and turned to the red head. "So you kept it a secret, too? Funny, why would Robin tell you but not anyone else? I know you two are close, but why keep it a secret? I have been in this hell for _five years_ and no one told me it was a like a sick joke."

"Artemis, I've been in here for three years. Don't you think I feel the same way?" Wally asked, his voice hurt at her accusations. But she paid no mind to it.

"No, you obviously don't. Why did they put you in here anyway? Besides the fact you run around faster than anyone else? What was their reasoning for putting you in here." Artemis shot, "So no, I don't think it's the same."

She turned and walked away, rushing to her room in anger. She planned to stay fully silent until the mission, where it was basically mandatory for her to speak to them. Artemis waited until the doors room was closed before she punched the wall, _hard_. And now she really wish she hadn't just done that because her hand was in pain.

_"Pain is something that can be tolerated. Like dad."_

She huffed and fell to her bed, of course Jade's wisdom quips would make their way to the front of her mind. She always had a knack of saying things so she would understand and find funny so it seemed less dire.

Like the talk Jade and her shared before the first time she robbed a bank, that was always a fun memory to remember.

* * *

><p>"Can't you come with me?" Artemis pleaded, looking up at Jade, who was suiting up for a different mission. Her black gear with her ski mask, her weapons strapped on holsters around her thighs and waist, and her backpack for what ever she was going out to collect.<p>

"Sorry sis, you have to do this on your own." Jade smiled, before tugging the bag tighter to her and walking out, "You'll be fine, mum's going to be monitoring you the entire way."

"But what if the guards shoot me? Won't it hurt?" Artemis whispered, scared out of her newly seven year old mind. Jade sighed and stepped in front of her.

"Pain is something that can be tolerated. Like dad." Jade said with a slight laugh, "And if anything happens to you, I swear I will track down the person that hurt you and make them hurt seven times worse, okay?"

Artemis had always wondered how her sister was so brave, how she could go out every night with no regrets and think in the blink of an eye. Maybe one day that would be here.

"Okay." Artemis whispered back, standing up in her gear, her bow strapped across her shoulder, her quiver that was almost too big for her strapped behind her and a collapsible compound bow strapped at her thigh, loaded with tranquillizing arrows.

"You ready?" Paula stepped in, in her Huntress garb.

"I'm ready." Artemis nodded.

* * *

><p>AN: With Robin's background... I've got multiple ideas and I don't really know which one to pick, but I don't want to tell you guys the ideas 'cause that kinda ruins it. (sorry). So... I want to give you, as the readers, a chance to come up with something. :) Just PM me with the idea, and you never know, maybe I will put it in! It would be really awesome if you did!

**A/N: Well... hi. Okay, honestly I feel terrible. There are no legit excuses but laziness that has stopped me from updating this story and posting this chapter. No excuses. I would say that this is probably just a filler go-with-the-motion chapter and I am halfway through the ext which is when we get to see Wally's point of view and a little of his past, which I touched on in this chapter. I keep wanting to say episode because I have non-stop stopped watching series online. Like binge watching. It's terrible. **

**Heh. Sorry again...**

**MAILBOX:**

**JewelStruck: Thanks so much! You are always too kind, far too kind.**

**blacktarget: Thanks you very much for your review. (Yes it was supposed to be like that (:)**

**xXLostParadxXx: Thanks, I'm glad you think it's getting somewhere!**

**bookchomper101: Thanks so much! You made my day! And Robin's past will be revealed in one of the later chapters. Don't worry, I'm still scheming.**

**ArtemisBAMF1218: THANKS SO MUCH! Words can't describe how much invisible tears were rolling down my face after reading your comment. Sorry... but emotional right now. **

**21 is awesome: Ummm, to answer your question: I don't think I will follow episodes, I'll pave my own path and probably get lost and trace my steps again. **

**The Shadow Keeper: HA! I think there was more Robin in this chapter, I can't really tell from my perspective.**

**Veritas1995: I know... and it's a real bummer for me too. Hopefully I will break away from the slow start and rocket on. :)**

**TheAsterousAuthor: Awe thanks so much. And no, sorry. No chalant. Mainly because this is focusing on Artemis and the 'delinquent' team... romance isn't really on the shelves right now. **

**C: Thanks so much! And for your other review :)**

**RedScotch444: Thanks! And thanks for the offer too! If I need anyone, I know who to call.**

**featherheart4248: You honestly make my day! And I'm glad you got an account (finally!) it's great :)**


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